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FRIENDS AND COUSINS 









TOM BECOMES AN OUTLAW 



FRIENDS AND 
COUSINS 


ABBIE FARWELL BROWN 


ILLUSTRATED BY 
ETHEL C. BROWN 


BOSTON AND NEW YORK 
HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY 
Iftitoerjtfibe Cambribfle 

1907 





L1*«ARY of CONGRESS 
Two Coole* Received 


SEP 23 1901 

_CwyrnM Entiy 

Jun *7 ><tn 

•0*sr 

COPY D. 




a' 2 - 


COPYRIGHT I907 BY ABBIE FARWELL BROWN 
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 


Published September r<)07 



* • « 


1 < { 


CONTENTS 




CHAPTER PAGE 


I. 

The Wigwam . 

. . . i 

II. 

Indians 

. . . IO 

III. 

The Ants* Fire-Escape 

. 18 

IV. 

Beech House 

27 

V. 

Mutiny .... 

. 36 

VI. 

The Pirate Cave . 

47 

VII. 

The Pirate Hoard 

. 62 

VIII. 

Treasure Trove . ..... . 

72 

IX. 

The Box of Candy . 

00 

00 

X. 

The Outlaw 

91 

XI. 

Gull Rock 

. 99 

XII. 

The Rescue . 

. . . 109 





ILLUSTRATIONS 


PAGE 

Tom becomes an Outlaw . Frontispiece ( page 94) ✓ 
Kenneth and Rose see a Strange Face in the Wigwam 10 
The Little Prouts came to make their First Call . 28/ 

The Pirates attack the Picnic Party . . . 50 

Tom, Charlie, and Kenneth dig for the Treasure . 78 

Rose and Sue cross upon the Slippery Stones . 100 











FRIENDS AND COUSINS 


CHAPTER I 
THE WIGWAM 

W HEN, after a long winter in the city, 
Kenneth and Rose came back to the 
Island which was their summer home, they 
were eager to see all their favorite places. 

On the very first morning they both wanted 
to visit the bathing beach and the Indian forest, 
the chasm and the pirate cave. They wanted 
to know what new wonders had sprouted in 
the garden of live flowers, and how much 
their little oak tree had grown. They wanted 
to see if there were any deer tracks down by 
the spring, and if there was still a wasp’s nest 
in a certain spot under the stone wall. Besides, 
there was the beech tree, where Rose had her 
summer-house; and the theatre among the 
rocks, where they used to speak pieces ; and 


2 


FRIENDS AND COUSINS 


the post office in the hollow pine, — and a 
hundred other places which they loved. It was 
very hard to choose. But finally they decided 
that most they wanted to see the wigwam in 
the forest. 

They had discovered the wigwam in the 
forest by accident one day last summer, and 
they had seen it only that once ; for the very 
next day they went back to the city. What a 
pity they had not found it sooner ! Kenneth 
and Rose could hardly wait for summer to come 
so that they could visit it again ; it was such a 
lovely place in which to play Indian hunter. 

This first morning was not a very good one 
for a walk in the woods. It was gray and misty, 
threatening rain before night. But the children 
were not going to postpone their plans on that 
account. Kenneth put on his Indian suit, and 
took his bow and arrows. Rose wore her moc- 
casins and wampum belt. Kenneth was sure 
that he remembered the way to the wigwam, 
although it was a long distance and he had 
gone but once. 


THE WIGWAM 3 

The forest came close to the back door of 
Sweetbrier Cottage, and the children entered 
it by the same path up which the little Prouts 
came every day to bring the milk. Presently 
they came to another path, which branched to 
the right. This one was very narrow and in- 
distinct, difficult to follow even in bright sun- 
light, but Kenneth remembered it well. 

Soon they were in the midst of the dim, 
gray- green forest. The trees were so thick 
that there was little sunshine here, even on 
a pleasant day. They trotted happily along, 
their feet crunching the dry twigs and spring- 
ing on the elastic moss. How good it seemed 
to feel the pine needles under foot, instead of 
brick sidewalks and asphalt ! 

The path grew fainter and fainter. It wa- 
vered and branched and strayed off in every 
direction, as if it were not quite sure which 
way to go. But Kenneth seemed to know 
where to turn, just as Indian hunters always 
do. Rose thought him wonderful. She did 
not remember anything at all except the 


4 


FRIENDS AND COUSINS 


greenness of the moss and ferns and the brown- 
ness of the tree-trunks. On they went, farther 
and farther. 

“ I think we are almost there now,” said 
Kenneth at last. “ I remember that old dead 
pine, don’t you, Rose?” 

“ No,” said Rose honestly. “ I don’t re- 
member. But I do think we must be almost 
there. It seems a long, long way.” 

But when they came into the open space 
beyond the pine tree, there was no wigwam 
waiting them. Kenneth looked surprised. 

“Well, it must be just a little farther,” he 
said. And they trudged on. It was growing 
darker and darker in the forest. A gray veil 
seemed to be drawing around them, hiding 
the way. Rose shivered. 

“ I wish I had worn my coat,” she said. 
“ I think it is going to rain, Kenneth. Don’t 
you think we had better go home?” 

“No, indeed!” cried Kenneth. “We are 
almost there now. Yes, — I remember that oak 
tree with the big rock beside it. I am sure we 


THE WIGWAM 


5 


are there now;” and he brushed eagerly through 
the bushes. 

But when they passed the oak tree, there 
was no wigwam. Rose shook her curls un- 
easily. “ I want to go home/’ she said. “ It 
is n’t nice in the forest when there is no sun- 
shine. The trees are full of gray smoke. I 
wish we had waited for a sunny day.” 

“ It is n’t smoke, it is fog,” said Kenneth. 
“ I am sure that this was the place, but the 
wigwam is gone. Somebody must have pulled 
it down. Perhaps the Indians themselves came 
back.” 

Rose looked over her shoulder anxiously. 
“ Let ’s go home,” she said. 

“ Well, perhaps we had better,” agreed Ken- 
neth. He remembered that sometimes the 
Island fogs grew so thick that even the fisher- 
men were afraid of losing their way. 

They turned about and started towards the 
little thin path which they had left a few min- 
utes earlier. But where had the path gone ? 
They could not find it anywhere. The fog 


6 


FRIENDS AND COUSINS 


was creeping around them so that they could 
see scarcely ten feet ahead. Kenneth took Rose 
by the hand, and together they stumbled on 
over the moss and dead branches. But still they 
found no path. Every few minutes they would 
stop and look about, and then, fearing that 
they were going wrong, would start in an- 
other direction. The fog grew thicker, and 
they could hardly see one another. Kenneth’s 
cap was dewed with heavy drops, and Rose’s 
curls looked almost as though she had been in 
bathing. 

She squeezed Kenneth’s hand tightly. “ Are 
we lost, Kenneth ? ” she asked, in a brave 
voice. 

“ No, we are n’t lost,” he answered. “ We 
know where we are, — right in the middle 
of the forest. But I can’t remember the way 
home. Let us shout. Perhaps some one will 
hear us and show us the way.” 

They shouted as loudly as they could, — 
“ Hello ! Hello ! Hello - o - o ! ” again and 
again ; but nobody answered. There was not 


THE WIGWAM 


7 


a sound in the forest; only cold, damp, gray 
fog came sifting silently everywhere. 

“ I wish we had n’t come,” said Rose. “ Shall 
we get home before night ? I should n’t like 
to sleep in the forest. There might be snakes.” 

Suddenly they ran into something like a 
wooden fence. “ Hurrah ! ” cried Kenneth. 
“ Look, Rose, here is the wigwam now. I 
told you we were near it all the time.” 

Kenneth was right. There they stood in 
the very door of the wigwam, which had been 
hidden by the fog. 

They gave a shout of joy and went inside. 
Yes, there it stood, just as they had left it a 
year ago. There was the piny roof, the pile of 
brush for a sofa ; the little heap of stones which 
had been their play stove ; the cupboard made 
of a hollow log. 

“ Somebody has been in our house,” said 
Kenneth, like the Great Big Bear in the story. 
“ Here are some pieces of broken crockery.” 

“ Somebody has been sitting on our sofa,” 
cried Rose, like the Middle-sized Bear, “ and 


8 


FRIENDS AND COUSINS 


she has left her shawl. See!” — she held up 
a plaid shawl. “ It is nice and warm. I am 
going to put it on.” 

“ It is an Indian blanket,” said Kenneth. 
“ And look ! Somebody has been into our cup- 
board and has left something to eat ! ” he cried, 
like the Little Wee Bear. He held up a pail 
full of blueberries, big and ripe and luscious. 
“ Rose, it must be the Indians ! ” 

Both the children glanced at the door and 
shivered. Never had the Indians seemed so 
near. It was very creepy here alone in the 
forest. The fog might be hiding all sorts of 
dangers which they could not see. 

But soon Rose took courage. “ I don’t be- 
lieve it was Indians,” she said. “ Indians don’t 
leave things all ready for lost children. It must 
be the fairies. I knew there were fairies in 
this forest. I have told you so, Kenneth, ever 
so many times. I am hungry and I am going 
to eat the berries. If the fairies left them it 
will be perfectly safe.” 

“ Pooh ! ” said Kenneth, who did not be- 


THE WIGWAM 


9 


lieve in fairies. But he decided to help eat 
the berries. The two sat down on the pine- 
bough sofa and began to dip out handful after 
handful. And the luncheon tasted so good 
that they spoke hardly a word for five min- 
utes. The wigwam was as quiet as before 
they had come. 


CHAPTER II 


INDIANS 

S UDDENLY, outside the wigwam, a twig 
snapped. There was, — yes, there cer- 
tainly was a rustle in the bushes. Steps were 
creeping towards the wigwam. It sounded 
like an Indian. Kenneth grabbed his bow and 
arrows. Rose kept very still, but her fingers 
trembled. They both sat staring at the door 
of the wigwam. 

Stealthily a face came peering around the 
side of the door — a dark, reddish-brown face, 
with bright eyes. Then another face appeared ; 
then another. It seemed as if the fog were 
full of eager faces and shiny, black eyes. 

“ It is the Indians! ” said Kenneth to him- 
self. “At last they have really come ! ” He 
lifted his bow and pointed the arrow at the 
face of the tallest Indian. But just as he was 



KENNETH 


AND ROSE SEE A STRANGE FACE IN THE 


WIGWAM 







































































































































INDIANS 


ii 


about to let the arrow fly, the head in the door- 
way moved and a voice cried,- — 

“ Don’t shoot ! I am a friend.” 

Kenneth’s arm dropped with surprise, and 
as it did so a figure stole into the tent. Behind it, 
out of the fog, crept five other figures in Indian 
file, each shorter than the one before it. They 
were none of them big or terrible. The tall- 
est was about Kenneth’s own height, and the 
smallest was hardly more than a baby. Three 
of them were boys and three were girls, and 
the little ones kept behind the others as if they 
were afraid. 

“Ho ! ” said Kenneth. “ I thought at first 
you were Indians ! ” and he began to laugh. 

The biggest boy laughed, too. “No, we 
are n’t Indians,” he said shyly. “We are Cap- 
tain Prout’s children from the Cove. I am 
Tom and this is Mary. That one with the 
freckles is Susan, and the three little ones are 
Bill and Bob and Jane.” 

“The little Prouts ! ” exclaimed Rose; and 
they all looked at one another curiously. Al- 


12 


FRIENDS AND COUSINS 


though Kenneth and Rose had been coming 
to the Island for years, this was the first time 
that they had stood face to face with their little 
neighbors who brought the milk every morn- 
ing. The Prout children had always been very 
shy. After they had stared for some time, Ken- 
neth remembered to be polite. 

“ How do you do ? ” he said. “ I am Kenneth 
Thornton, and this is my sister Rose.” 

“ Oh, we know who you are,” said Mary 
Prout, “ and we knew you came yesterday. 
We heard you yell for help just now, and we 
guessed where we ’d find you. We were right 
close by. We were coming back to get the 
berries that Sue left here,” — she stopped ab- 
ruptly, seeing the empty pail which Rose was 
holding. 

“Oh, I am so sorry!” said Rose. “We 
have eaten all your lovely berries ; but we 
thought the fairies had brought them to 
us.” Then they all laughed and felt better 
acquainted. “ I suppose this is your shawl, 
too ?” asked Rose, pulling it off. 


INDIANS 


J 3 


“ Yes/’ said Mary, “ but you are very wel- 
come to it and the berries, too. I am so glad 
we left them here ! ” 

“But how did you know about our wig- 
wam?” said Kenneth. 

The little Prouts looked at one another and 
laughed. “Why, you see,” said Tom, “we 
thought it was our wigwam. We built it, you 
know ” — 

“ You built it ! ” interrupted Kenneth and 
Rose together. 

“We thought it was the Indians,” explained 
Kenneth. 

“ What clever children you are ! ” said Rose 
admiringly. 

The little Prouts looked pleased and proud. 
The three smallest ones stole out from behind 
Tom and Mary and Sue, and stood in a half 
circle around Kenneth and Rose. 

“Then we had no right to come here at all,” 
said Kenneth, much mortified. “We were very 
rude to walk into your house and eat up your 
berries and wear your shawl. But we did not 


14 


FRIENDS AND COUSINS 


know. Come, Rose; ” and he started for the 
door. 

“Oh, please don’t go ! ” begged Tom and 
Mary together. And Susan and Bill and Bob 
and Jane said, “ Please don’t go ! ” 

“Won’t you stay and play Indian hunter, 
the way you did that day last year ? ” said 
Tom eagerly. 

“Why, how did you know about that?” 
asked Kenneth, in surprise. “You were not 
here.” 

“Yes, we were,” nodded Mary. “We were 
right over there behind the big rock. We 
watched you all the time.” 

“Why didn’t you come and play with 
us ? ” said Rose. “ It would have been so 
much nicer with eight of us, instead of two.” 

The faces of the little Prouts lighted up 
joyously. “Oh, would you play with us?” 
said Tommy. 

“We did n’t dare, then,” said Mary shyly. 
“But now it’s different.” 

Susan drew close to Rose and touched her 


INDIANS 


i5 


hand gently. “We know about ‘Brothers 
and Sisters ’ now,” she said. “ You told in the 
letter when you sent us the box of lovely 
Christmas things that we were all like bro- 
thers and sisters together, because we had one 
Father. So we aren’t going to be afraid of 
you any more. You were so kind to us ! ” 

“ Oh, that ’s all right,” said Kenneth awk- 
wardly, for he hated to be thanked. “We 
didn’t do anything. But it will be fine to 
have a big band of Indians and Pirates. Shall 
we play Indian now?” 

“Yes!” they all cried, dancing up and 
down like real little Indians. And so they 
played together. T ommy was the Indian chief, 
and Rose, Bill, and little Jane were in his 
band. Kenneth was Hawkeye, the famous 
Indian hunter, with Mary for his trusty guide, 
and Susan and Bob were his scouts. 

All that morning the foggy forest rang with 
the sound of war whoops and the shouts of 
victorious hunters, as the fights raged about 
the wigwam. It was great fun. The Indian 


16 FRIENDS AND COUSINS 

chief knew the woods so well that he could 
find his way everywhere, even in the thick 
fog. Hawkeye would have had a hard time 
trying to find him but for the service of his 
brave scouts. As it was, they had some narrow 
escapes from being scalped. But they finally 
captured Jane-Little-Injun as their prisoner. 

By this time they knew, because of their 
hungriness, that it must be noon. So they 
called a parley with the Indians, and smoked 
a peace pipe — Susan found one growing in 
the forest. 

“ I suppose we must go home,” said Ken- 
neth, with a sigh. Then his face fell. The 
fog was thicker than ever, and he knew that 
he could never find his way home. He hated 
to confess it to the Indian chief. But Tommy 

Prout was a thoughtful Indian. 

* 

“We have smoked the peace pipe,” he 
said. “Now we Indians will go with Hawk- 
eye and his braves and show you the quick 
trail home.” 

And back through the fog they went in 


INDIANS 


*7 


Indian file, talking and laughing and telling 
one another about things which were so 
different in the city and on the Island; for 
the little Prouts were full of eager questions 
about the city, which they had never seen, 
while Kenneth and Rose were just as anxious 
to know what the Island was like in the 
winter. 

When they reached the broad path by the 
back door, Tommy and the other Prout chil- 
dren said good-by, and started back to the 
Cove, because it was late, and their father 
and mother did not know where they were. 

“ Good-by,” said Kenneth and Rose. 

“ Don’t forget to come to-morrow to play 
with us again,” added Kenneth. 

“ Be sure and bring your dolls,” said Rose 
to the little girls. “ And they shall all play 
with my Alice under the beech tree.” 

You can imagine whether or not the little 
Prouts promised to come. 


CHAPTER III 


THE ANTS’ FIRE-ESCAPE 

I T was not quite bedtime ; for they had tea 
early at the Island, so that after the fire was 
lighted in the big chimney the children might 
have a little hour with the grown-ups for a 
game or a story, or for whatever pleasant thing 
might happen. 

Kenneth and Rose ran to get their fat cush- 
ions, and put them down in the two corners 
of the hearth. Kenneth’s cushion was red, and 
he always sat on the right hand of the fire- 
place. Rose’s cushion was blue, and she sat on 
the left. 

Papa began to poke the fire to make it burn 
more brightly, for it was not so big and bus- 
tling a blaze as usual. 

“ Somebody forgot to fill the wood-box,” he 
said. u We need a nice crisp birch log to make 


THE ANTS’ FIRE-ESCAPE 


19 

the fire crackle. Who wants to run out to the 
wood-pile and bring one in? ” 

“I do ! ” cried Kenneth, jumping up eagerly. 

“ Oh, I do ! ” cried Rose, jumping up too. 

“Well, you may both go ,” said Papa. “And 
between you I think you can bring in a good 
big one. But mind not to trip over it.” 

Out they ran to the wood-pile, which was 
close behind the house on the edge of the 
forest, where Rose suspected that the fairies 
lived, and where Kenneth was sure that there 
were Indians. But neither Kenneth nor Rose 
was afraid. They were very brave children, 
especially by daylight. 

“ Here is a nice little log,” said Rose. 

“Oh, that isn’t half big enough,” cried 
Kenneth scornfully. “ Let ’s carry this one. 
Rose. This is something like ; ” and he seized 
one of the very largest logs in the wood-pile. 

“ All right,” said Rose ; and she bravely 
stretched her little arms around the other 
end. They tugged and they tugged, and they 
grunted and grunted, and they pulled and 


20 


FRIENDS AND COUSINS 


pulled; and finally, after pushing and hauling 
and rolling and shoving it, they got the log 
up on to the piazza, where it fell with a bang ! 
Out came their father and mother to see what 
all the noise meant. 

“ Mercy ! ” cried their mother. “ How 
could you two children bring in such an 
enormous log as that ? Are n’t your poor little 
backs broken ? ” 

“ I ’m not so very small. I ’m ten,” said 
Kenneth, drawing himself up. 

“ And I am seven,” said Rose proudly. 

“Of course,” said their father; “it is good 
exercise for them, Mama, and will make them 
big and strong. Don’t you remember the story 
about the poor little girl who learned to carry 
a cow upstairs, and so the Prince married her ?” 

“ Oh, how did she learn ? ” cried Rose 
eagerly. “ Could I do it ? ” 

“ Why, you see, she carried the little calf 
upstairs every day — every day of its life. Of 
course it was growing all the time, so that be- 
fore she knew it, the calf had become a big 


THE ANTS’ FIRE-ESCAPE 


21 


cow, and the little girl was carrying the cow 
upstairs as easily as you please. Then the 
Prince came along and married her.” 

“ That sounds like one of Aunt Clare’s 
stories,” said Rose. 

“What did he want to marry her for?” 
asked Kenneth. “ Princes’ wives don’t need 
to carry cows, do they ? ” 

“Well, I forget the rest of the story,” said 
Papa. “ But there was a reason ; a very good 
reason indeed, if I could only remember it. 
There always is a reason for things in fairy 
stories, isn’t there, Rosie ?” 

“Yes, indeed!” said Rose. But Kenneth 
sniffed. 

Papa seized the big log in both arms as 
easily as the Princess did the cow, carried it in 
and threw it on the fire, which spouted up with 
a burst of sparks, like a fiery fountain. The 
bark began to crackle deliciously. Rose and 
Kenneth cuddled down on their cushions, one 
on each side of the fire, and watched the little 
tongues of flame lick the old log greedily. 


22 


FRIENDS AND COUSINS 


They loved the fire. Usually it made some- 
body think of a story. 

Suddenly Rose cried out “ Oh ! ” so loudly 
that even Kenneth jumped. Rose was point- 
ing into the fire, and her forehead was puck- 
ered with distress. 

“ Why, what is it, Rose ? ” asked her 
mother. 

“ Oh, oh ! ” cried Rose again. “ Oh, the 
poor little ants ! Do look ! ” 

Sure enough ! the old log must have been 
an ants’ house. The poor little things were 
creeping out of the holes in it and scurrying 
wildly about in every direction, seeking a way 
of escape from their dwelling, which was 
growing hotter and hotter every minute. 

The foremost of them tried to climb down 
the andirons. But these were too hot, and 
soon they went scurrying back again. They 
grew wilder and wilder, wandering about 
crazily as if they did not know what to do. 
Their home was surrounded by flame on every 
side. Some of them tried to jump down. But 


THE ANTS’ FIRE-ESCAPE 


2 3 


Rose shuddered to see the poor things fall into 
the fire or upon the hot hearth and shrivel 
up into sad little cinders. It was too dreadful ! 

“Oh, Mama and Papa, what shall we do ?” 
she cried. “ I cannot bear to see them. It is 
just like a house full of people being burned, 
with nobody to help. Kenneth, can’t we do 
something ?” 

“Ding-dong! Call out the fire-engine ! ” 
roared Kenneth, jumping up and galloping to 
the kitchen for a pail of water. Kenneth was 
always ready for a new game. 

“Water will do no good. You cannot put 
out the fire without drowning them,” called 
Kenneth’s father. “ I am afraid the poor ants 
are doomed, Rosie. It is like a crowded 
tenement house, isn’t it?” he said to Mama. 
“ The poor little creatures crowd together like 
people in the upper-story windows, hoping 
for a ladder.” 

“That is what they need — a fire-escape,” 
cried Rose. “ Oh, I must make a fire-escape 
quickly ! ” 


24 


FRIENDS AND COUSINS 


She ran to the wood-box and seized a long, 
flat piece of wood. This she took for her fire- 
escape, resting one end on the rug in front 
of the hearth, and the other on top of the log 
which had now caught fire and was blazing 
briskly. It made a nice little bridge from 
the burning wood above the hot hearthstone. 
Almost immediately an ant spied the fire- 
escape and started across it eagerly. Another 
followed him; then another and another, until 
a constant procession was filing down the 
bridge toward safety. 

“ Hurrah ! ” cried Rose, as the first ant 
reached the rug; but she stopped suddenly. 
“ Look at him ! ” she cried. “ He is going 
back,” 

Sure enough, back he was going, — back 
to the burning log. And all the other ants 
were doing the same thing. One after another 
they returned up the fire-escape, stopping to 
wave their feelers and make signs to all the 
ants whom they met coming down. They 
must have told these last something to make 


THE ANTS’ FIRE-ESCAPE 


25 


them change their minds; for every single 
one turned about as soon as he was told. 
Presently it was plain what they meant. The 
ants were coming out in crowds, and each 
was carrying something white in its mouth. 

“ The ant babies ! They are trying to save 
the ant babies ! ” cried Rose. And that is 
exactly what they were doing. Eagerly the 
children watched the crowds running down 
the fire-escape with their precious burdens. 
Faster and faster they came, and the hearth- 
rug was black with them when Papa took it 
up gently and carried it out to shake it over 
the piazza railing. How glad the poor little 
ants must have been to feel the cool grass 
under their feet ! 

They were all saved at last, and it was high 
time, for the log was now one mass of flame. 

“ I think you should have a fireman’s medal 
for life-saving. Rose,” said her mother. 

“ Oh, I ought not to have a medal,” said 
Rose modestly. “ I only built the fire-escape. 
But every one of those brave ants who came 


26 


FRIENDS AND COUSINS 


back into the fire and saved the babies ought 
to have one.” 

“Yes, we should call them Heroes if they 
had been men,” said Papa. 

“ They would rather have something sweet 
than a medal,” said Kenneth, who knew a 
great deal about sweet things. 

“Sure enough ! ” cried Rose, clapping her 
hands. “ Mama, may I scatter some sugar 
out there in the grass where Papa shook the 
ants?” 

Her mother said that she might. So I 
dare say the rescued ants had a jolly banquet 
that night to celebrate their wonderful escape. 
But I suppose that the ant babies were too 
little to share in it. 


CHAPTER IV 


BEECH HOUSE 

B RIGHT and early the next morning a 
small procession came up the path to 
Sweetbrier Cottage. It was the little Prouts, 
making their first real visit to the Thornton 
children. Tom and Mary led the way. It was 
the second time they had come that morning. 
Once, before daylight, they had traveled over 
the same path to bring the milk for Kenneth’s 
and Rose’s breakfast. But they did not mind 
an extra walk of a mile or two. Behind Mary 
and Tom came Susan, holding little Jane by 
the hand, and after them trotted Bill and Bob. 
The three girls carried each a doll, dressed in 
her prettiest clothes. 

It was a great event for the little Prouts. 
They were rather frightened when they found 
the piazza empty and no one anywhere to be 


28 


FRIENDS AND COUSINS 


seen. They had hoped that Kenneth and Rose 
would be outside waiting for them. That 
would have made them a little less bashful. 
They did not know what to do next, so they 
gathered in a bunch and began to whisper. 

“You must knock on the door, Tom,” said 
Mary. 

“ No, you do it,” said Tom, hanging back. 

“Let’s all go together, then,” whispered 
Mary, looking timidly at the front steps ; for 
she remembered how once she had been fright- 
ened at this same place by the ringing of a 
terrible bell. So all the little Prouts took hold 
of hands and advanced in a crowd. But just 
as they were going to mount the steps the door 
swung open, and out came Mrs. Thornton 
with the baby in her arms. From the window 
she had seen the little Prouts coming. She 
smiled at them kindly and said, — 

“Good-morning, little neighbors. I am very 
glad to see you. I suppose you are looking 
for Kenneth and Rose, are n’t you ? Well, they 
are expecting you, and they are waiting down 



THE LITTLE PROUTS COME TO MAKE THEIR FIRST CALL 




BEECH HOUSE 


29 


under the beech tree. Come, and I will show 
you the way.” 

They followed Mrs. Thornton down the 
green slope, around big rocks and under the 
pine trees on top of the cliff, until they came 
to a huge beech tree, the only one on the 
Island. 

“ This is the place,” said Mrs. Thornton. 
The little Prouts could dimly see somebody 
moving about beyond the green wall of leaves. 
But no one came to meet them. “We must 
let them know that we are here,” explained 
Mrs. Thornton, and she pulled down a branch 
of the beech tree which was in front of her. 
On the end dangled a tin horn. 

“ This is the way visitors do when they 
come to Beech House,” she said. Then she 
blew a long blast on the horn. “Now a little 
one for the baby,” she added, blowing again, 
very softly. “ There, Tommy, now it is your 
turn. You must each blow, so that they may 
know how many guests to expect.” 

Tommy blew the horn so loudly that Mrs. 


3 ° 


FRIENDS AND COUSINS 


Thornton jumped. Then Mary blew, then 
Susan, and Bill, and Bob. Last of all, little Jane 
blew. But she scarcely made any sound at all. 

When the echo of all these blowings had 
died away, Kenneth and Rose lifted up the 
branch and looked out. 

“ Welcome, eight strangers ! ” said Kenneth, 
bowing very low. 

“Welcome to Beech House,” said Rose, 
making a neat courtesy. Then they led their 
visitors in, — all but Mrs. Thornton and the 
baby, who said they must go back to the house. 

The little Prouts followed Kenneth and 
Rose into Beech House, and a fine house it 
was ! The great beech tree arched over like 
an enormous umbrella. On every side the 
branches came down close to the ground, so 
that the children were shut in by green walls,, 
like a tent. This was Rose’s summer-house, 
where her dolls lived. Kenneth often played 
here, too. 

The little Prouts stared around them 
with grins of delight. Beech House was all 


BEECH HOUSE 31 

ready for a party. In the centre of the room 
stood a little table, spread with a cloth and set 
with dishes for eight people. About it were 
several little chairs. Over in the corner was 
another table, even tinier, and set with still 
smaller dishes. At the head of this table sat 
Alice, Rose’s best doll, and beside her was 
Matilda, with the broken nose, whom Rose 
loved almost as dearly as she loved Alice. 

“ We thought we would have a party,” said 
Kenneth, “ because this is the first time you 
ever came to see us.” 

“ And, of course, the dolls had to have an- 
other party to welcome your dolls,” added 
Rose. “ Come, Alice, and greet your little 
new friends.” 

Rose brought Alice forward, and she shook 
hands with the three dolls which Mary, Susan, 
and little Jane had brought. Now these were 
the very same dolls which Rose had sent to 
the little Prouts in the Christmas box, before 
she had ever spoken a word to Mary or Susan 
or Jane. So Rose was really better acquainted 


FRIENDS AND COUSINS 


3 2 

with the dolls, and with their dresses which 
she had made, than she was with the Prout 
girls themselves. 

“ How do you do ? How do you do ? How 
do you do ?” said Alice three times (in Rose’s 
voice). “ Come and sit down at the table near 
my dear sister Matilda, who has only one leg, 
so that she cannot rise to greet you very con- 
veniently.” 

Then the T eddy Bear was introduced. Rose 
loved him too, but in a different way. He wore 
a red sweater and a tam-o’-shanter cap. He 
shook hands with the Prout dolls very politely, 
and squeaked “ How ! ” like an Indian. The 
little Prouts had never before seen a Teddy 
Bear, and at first they were afraid of him, 
because they thought he was alive. Rose put 
Teddy at the foot of the table, as he was the 
only boy in the party. 

When Teddy and the five dolls were seated 
at their table, Rose and the other little girls 
went back to where Kenneth was showing the 
boys his camera and his tool-chest. 


BEECH HOUSE 


33 


“ Let ’s play Desert Island,” said Kenneth. 
“ That is our favorite game. I am Robinson 
Crusoe and Rose is my Man Friday. Let ’s 
play you are the Swiss Family Robinson, come 
to have dinner with us. One, two, three, four, 
five, six, — yes, you are just the right num- 
ber! You can be Mr. and Mrs. Robinson and 
their four sons. Isn’t that splendid. Rose?” 

“ Splendid ! ” echoed Rose, clapping her 
hands. “ Mr. and Mrs. Robinson, will you and 
your children please be seated ? ” 

There were only four chairs, and these were 
rather small ones. So Kenneth and Tom, 
Mary and Rose, sat cross-legged on the ground. 
Their chins came just above the edge of the 
table, which made everybody laugh. 

“ Now, Man Friday,” said Robinson Cru- 
soe, “ bring on the banquet.” 

Friday ran to the little cupboard in the 
corner. It was such a cunning little cup- 
board that Mary said : “ Oh, how did you 
ever think of building one like that ? It is so 
easy, too ! ” 


34 


FRIENDS AND COUSINS 


“My Mama used to make them so when 
she was a little girl,” said Rose. “ She showed 
me how. See, it is just two bricks with a 
shingle laid across ; then two more bricks on 
top, and another shingle ; and up, up, up, as 
many shelves as you like. I have seven, and 
they are very convenient.” 

“We must build one in the wigwam,” said 
Mary. 

“Yes; that must be your Swiss Family 
Robinson house, if this is our Crusoe one,” 
said Kenneth. 

Then Man Friday served the party. There 
was bread and butter spread with marmalade, 
and there were cookies and chocolate fudge, 
and lemonade in a tall pitcher. It was a very 
jolly party. Every one was happy. The Prouts 
laughed all the time. You see, it was their 
very first party ! 

When the Crusoe dinner was over, Kenneth 
had still more things to show the Prout boys, 
and the girls were just as much interested. 
There was the express wagon, in which the 


BEECH HOUSE 


35 


provisions had been drawn down from Sweet- 
brier Cottage. But in places where the path 
was too narrow, they had been obliged to carry 
it over the rocks in their arms. Rose told 
how they had tipped over and wasted one 
whole pitcher of lemonade ! 

Then there was the ring-toss game and the 
animal circus. How the little Prouts did en- 
joy the jointed animals, and the clown, and the 
funny things which Kenneth and Rose made 
them do! Fancy it! the little Prouts had 
never seen a real circus ! Kenneth and Rose 
could hardly believe how any one could be so 
unfortunate. But the little Prouts said that 
they had never been away from the Island, and 
of course the circus never came to the Island, 
it was so far away from everywhere. 

Rose and Kenneth said to themselves that, 
after all, there are some unfortunate things 
about living on an island. 


CHAPTER V 


MUTINY 



HILE the little ones were still playing 


V V with the clown, the elephant, and the 
donkey, Mary and Tom went about Beech 
House looking at other things. 

“ What a queer flag ! ” cried Mary sud- 
denly. “It is not a bit like the Stars and 
Stripes.” She was pointing to something tied 
to a stick which stood against the tree- 
trunk. It was a flag of black silk, and on it 
was painted a skull with two bones crossed 
below it. 

“Why, don’t you know?” said Kenneth, 
“that is a pirate flag. We always use it 
whenever we play pirates.” 

“What are pirates?” asked Mary. 

“ Oh, pirates are sea-robbers,” explained 
Kenneth. “They used to sail all around the 


MUTINY 


37 


world in fast ships, and they captured other 
sailors and killed them. Then they took their 
treasures and buried them in places where 
no one else could find them. Papa says that 
perhaps they hid some of their treasure down 
here in Maine. Did you ever find any pirate 
gold, Tom ? ” 

“No,” said Tom. “But I never looked 
for any. Perhaps if I had known I might 
have found it. I ’ll hunt for it some day.” 

“We’ll all hunt for it! ” said Kenneth. 

“We played ‘Buried Treasure’ last sum- 
mer,” said Rose. “Aunt Clare showed me 
how. It is a very good game for a sandy 
beach, and I found ten cents.” 

“Oh!” cried Susan Prout eagerly. Ten 
cents seemed to her a great deal of money. 

“ Pooh ! ” said Kenneth. “ That was a 
silly game. We will go and find real trea- 
sure, — gold and jewels and things like that. 
And we will be rich as anything.” 

“Hurrah!” shouted Tom. Bill and Bob 
echoed, “ Hurrah ! ” 


38 


FRIENDS AND COUSINS 


“ First we ’ll form a pirate band,” went on 
Kenneth. “Now there are so many of us it 
will be jolly to play pirate. I ’ll be Bloody 
Dick. Tom, you can be Slippery Joe. We 
will think up names for all the little ones, — 
and for the girls, too. The girls will have to 
play so that we can have a good big band.” 

“ Of course we shall play ! ” said Rose 
stoutly. “We shall be the best pirates of all, 
shan’t we, Mary?” 

And Mary said, “ Perhaps, when we know 
how.” 

“ I say, Tom, you know where the pirate 
cave is, don’t you ? ” asked Kenneth. 

“You mean the cave down by Black 
Rock?” asked Tom. “ We don’t call it that, 
though. We call it just ‘ The Oven.’ ” 

“ Pirate Cave is a much better name,” said 
Kenneth. “Well, Mama says that we can 
have a picnic there some day. We children 
will all be pirates, and the cave is our den. 
Papa and Mama and the baby will be just 
ordinary sailors with a treasure, — that’s the 


MUTINY 


39 


luncheon, of course. And we will capture 
them and take them to the cave. Then we 
will have the picnic. Won’t that be fine?” 

“Fine!” cried Tom. “That will be a great 
game.” 

“We must all have black masks like this,” 
said Kenneth ; and he clapped to his face a bit 
of black cloth with two holes, through which 
his eyes glowed fiercely. 

The littlest Prouts began to scream. “ Stop 
that!” said Tom. “If you are going to bawl 
you can’t be pirates. You will have to go with 
the luncheon and be robbed.” 

Bill and Bob and Jane were silent immedi- 
ately. They felt that it would be terrible not 
to be pirates. 

“Yes, we must all have masks and swords, 
and red handkerchiefs tied around our necks, 
and turbans, just like real pirates,” said Ken- 
neth. “ See, I have a tin sword.” 

“ I think I can make the masks,” said Mary, 
who had been examining Kenneth’s.. “ I can 
sew a little, can’t you, Rose ? ” 


40 


FRIENDS AND COUSINS 


“ Oh, yes,” said Rose, thinking of the dolls' 
dresses which she had made. “ I can sew a 
great deal.” 

“And I can whittle,” said Tommy Prout. 
“ I will make wooden swords for all of us.” 

“ So can I,” said Kenneth. “ I have a jolly 
jack-knife — a real pirate ripper!” and he 
flourished it in the air. 

“Who will be captain?” said Rose sud- 
denly. “ I suppose there has to be a captain ? ” 

“ Oh, yes,” said Kenneth. “ Of course there 
must be a captain, to tell everybody what to 
do.” 

“ You be captain, Kenneth,” said Rose, who 
admired her brother more than anything in 
the world. Kenneth brandished his sword and 
cried “ Ho ! ” ferociously, as though he were 
indeed a pirate chief. 

“Tommy is the biggest,” said Susan jeal- 
ously. 

“Yes, Tommy's the biggest,” echoed Bill 
and Bob. 

“ Well, I know the Island pretty well,” said 


MUTINY 


4i 


Tom. “ I can sail a boat, too. I guess Til 
make a good pirate, though I never played the 
game before.” 

“ But the captain ought to know all about 
it,” said Kenneth uneasily. “You know you 
had never heard about pirates until I told 
you.” 

“ Well, I know now ,” said Tommy, flush- 
ing ; “ so what ’s the difference ? Do you want 
to be everything ?” 

“No, I don’t! ” retorted Kenneth. “Yester- 
day I let you be the Indian chief.” 

“ Yes, but you were Hawkey e, the famous 
hunter. That was just as good, was n’t it?” 
answered Tom. 

“ Well, if any one else is the pirate chief, I 
shall not let him wear my sword,” declared 
Kenneth. 

“ Stingy!” said Susan. 

“ I ’ll whittle a better one!” Tom cried 
triumphantly. 

“ I ’m going home,” said Susan. “ I shan’t 
play unless Tom is the chief.” 


42 


FRIENDS AND COUSINS 


“ Go along, then ! ” said Rose, pouting. 

Little Jane began to cry. Bill and Bob 
doubled up their fists and looked very fierce. 

“ Oh, don’t let us quarrel ! ” said Mary, in 
distress. And, indeed, it looked as though there 
was to be trouble in Beech House. 

“ Let ’s go home, Mary,” said Tom sullenly. 
“ We are n’t wanted here any longer.” 

Kenneth stood with arms folded, kicking 
the grass sulkily. Suddenly there came a tre- 
mendous blow on the horn, — so loud that 
everybody jumped, and Rose whispered in 
blood-curdling tones the awful word “Pi- 
rates!” But Kenneth soon remembered who 
he was, and that Robinson Crusoe was never 
afraid of anything, not even of cannibals. 

“ What ho ! ” he called bravely. “ What 
stranger seeks entrance to my house ? ” and he 
strode to the door brandishing his sword. Sud- 
denly he gave a whoop of joy. 

“ Charlie ! ” he cried. “ Charlie Carroll ! 
Where did you come from?” 

“ It ’s a surprise ! ” said another voice, and 


MUTINY 


43 


in came Kenneth with a boy of about the 
same age, who was grinning all over his jolly 
freckled face. Rose flew at him rapturously. 

“ Cousin Charlie ! ” she squealed. “ Oh, 
how nice ! ” 

“ Hello, Rose ! ” the boy said. “ Having a 
- party?” 

“ They are the little Prouts,” whispered 
Rose. “ You remember, we told you about 
them.” 

“He is my cousin, Charlie Carroll,” ex- 
plained Kenneth to the Prout children. “ I 
say, Charlie, why did n’t you tell us you were 
coming? Are you going to stay?” 

“Yes, I have come to stay four weeks,” 
said Charlie. “ Aunt Mollie asked me, and it 
was to be a secret.” 

“ Oh, goodie, goodie ! ” cried Rose, hopping 
up and down. “ What fine times we shall have 
now ! ” 

“ I came up on the boat last night with 
Aunt Clare,” said Charlie. “Uncle Jack met 
us at the wharf this morning, and when Aunt 


44 


FRIENDS AND COUSINS 


Mollie said you kids were all down here I ran 
away and came as softly as I could so as to 
surprise you.” 

“ Aunt Clare here, too ! Oh, what fun ! ” 
cried Rose. 

“ You came just in time to be a pirate,” 
said Kenneth. 

“ Oh, yes ! you will be a pirate too, won’t 
you, Charlie ?” said Rose, clapping her hands. 

“ Pirates ! ” cried Charlie. “ That sounds 
fine. I ’ll be Bulldog Bill.” 

“Hurrah!” cheered Kenneth. “We are 
to have swords and masks, Charlie, and cap- 
ture a treasure and live in a cave.” 

“ But we have n’t chosen a captain yet,” said 
Rose. “Kenneth and Tom both want to be 
captain, and we nearly quarreled about it be- 
fore you came.” 

The children suddenly looked very much 
ashamed. “ I don’t want to be captain, Tom,” 
said Kenneth. “ You ’ll do it better. Here, 
you can have my sword.” 

“No,” said Tom, “I won’t take it. You 


MUTINY 


45 


be captain. You know all about the game and 
I don’t.” 

Then Mary Prout had a great idea. “ Tou 
be pirate chief,” she said, turning to Charlie. 
“ That will settle the trouble.” 

“ Oh, yes, that is a good idea ! ” cried Rose. 
“We will all do as you say, Charlie.” 

“Oh, I have just come,” said Charlie. “ I 
don’t want to be chief the very first thing.” 

“ I ’ll agree,” said Kenneth. “What do you 
say, Tom ?” 

“ All right,” assented Tom. “ I don’t care. 
He’ll make a good pirate, I guess.” 

“Of course he will ! ” cried Rose promptly. 
“Charlie is great fun.” 

“Well, I’ll tell you,” said Charlie mod- 
estly. “ I ’ll be captain first, so as to settle 
things easily. But after that we ’ll take turns. 
Now let’s plan what we will do first.” 

“ All right ! ” they cried in chorus. Then 
they sat down on the grass and told Charlie 
about the adventure which they had planned 
before he came. And the new captain said it 


46 FRIENDS AND COUSINS 

was a very good plan indeed, and that they 
would carry it out at the first chance. 

So the tea-party ended happily after all, 
and a mutiny among the pirate band was 
averted. 


CHAPTER VI 


THE PIRATE CAVE 

O NE morning, a week after the tea-party, 
Mr. and Mrs. Thornton and Aunt Clare 
went for a row on the water. They had two 
large baskets packed full to overflowing with 
something precious. They also took a stone 
jug and a coffee-pot. It looked like a picnic 
party. They were very merry, as if they ex- 
pected to have a pleasant time; and yet, it 
may be that they had some idea of the danger 
into which they were about to run, for they 
did not take the baby with them. 

There was no one in sight when they rowed 
away from the landing. This was strange ; for 
usually there were half a dozen children, more 
or less, in that neighborhood. Quite recently 
stories had been told about a band of pirates 
who had been seen prowling about the coast. 


4 8 


FRIENDS AND COUSINS 


Was it possible that these ruffians had any- 
thing to do with the children’s disappearance ? 
Mr. and Mrs. Thornton seemed, however, to 
have forgotten all about pirate stories, and 
they rowed merrily away. 

“Why, this might indeed be a desert is- 
land,” said Aunt Clare, as they rounded point 
after point with no sign of a house or a hu- 
man being. They passed several little coves 
and cliffs, the bathing beach and the chasm, 
and presently they came in sight of a larger 
cove with a flat, stony beach. Beyond this a 
rock extended out into the water like a plat- 
form. At the back rose a steep cliff, with a 
black cavity in the centre. 

“ There is the cave, up under that rock,” said 
Mr. Thornton, as the boat grated on the beach. 

“ Oh, w T hat a splendid place for a picnic ! ” 
cried Aunt Clare, jumping out lightly. “ Do 
be careful not to upset those baskets ; I am 
dreadfully hungry already, and I don’t want 
to lose a mouthful of the delicious luncheon 
which Mollie has prepared.” 


THE PIRATE CAVE 


49 


Mr. Thornton helped out his wife and 
pulled the empty boat up on the beach, where 
the tide could not wash it away. “Now, then,” 
said he, “I’ll take the pail of lobsters and 
one of the baskets. Mama, you can take the 
other basket. Clare, will you carry the jug 
and the coffee-pot, please ? Forward, march ! 
To the cave ! ” 

Aunt Clare began to hum a tune, and they 
all marched along in time to it, carrying the 
luncheon carefully ; but just as they were 
about to enter the cave there came a terrible 
sound, — a chorus of screams and shouts and 
shrill whistles, — and a band of fierce and des- 
perate ruffians came rushing out of the cave 
where they had been hidden, surrounding the 
unfortunate picnickers. 

These desperadoes were very dreadful to look 
at. They wore black masks covering all their 
faces except their eyes, and some of them had 
long, black beards. They carried swords and 
pistols, which they brandished in a very dan- 
gerous manner. One of them waved a fearful 


50 


FRIENDS AND COUSINS 


black flag, with a skull and crossbones painted 
upon it. 

“ Pirates!” gasped Aunt Clare. “We are 
lost!” 

“ Pirates we are ! ” shouted the leader of 
the band, in a terrible voice. “ What are you 
doing near our cave ? I am Bloody Dick, and 
you are our prisoners. Hand over your trea- 
sure and come along to our captain, Bulldog 
Bill. Then we ’ll see what will happen to you 
next ! ” 

There was nothing to do but yield, for the 
pirates were eight to three. Mr. and Mrs. 
Thornton quickly handed over their baskets 
and the pail, — Aunt Clare groaned when she 
saw these treasures seized by the pirates. Then, 
after a struggle, she herself was forced to give 
up the jug and the coffee-pot. Bloody Dick 
and Slippery Joe, the biggest of the band, tied 
the hands of the prisoners with a piece of rope, 
while the others danced about shouting and 
screaming more like wild Indians than like 
pirates. 



THE PIRATES ATTACK THE PICNIC PARTY 




















































' 




































































. 






























































» 



































THE PIRATE CAVE 


5i 


“Now come along ! ” growled Bloody Dick, 
“ and step lively, or the Captain will make you 
all walk the plank/’ 

“ What ’s ‘ walk the plank ’ ? ” whispered one 
of the pirates in pigtails to another with long, 
yellow curls. 

“ Charlie says that it is like the spring- 
board which the boys use in swimming,” 
answered the curly pirate. “But that doesn’t 
sound very terrible, does it ? ” 

“No,” said the pigtailed one. “But per- 
haps there is something more.” 

The procession marched up the rocks to the 
entrance of the cave, led by Bloody Dick, who 
held the end of the rope which bound all the 
prisoners together, while Slippery Joe guarded 
the rear. One by one the prisoners were pushed 
in, bent almost double, for the opening was 
low. But once inside, they found a high room, 
big enough to hold them all. It was shadowy 
but not very dark, for besides the door there 
was a hole which went up through the roof 
like a chimney. 


52 


FRIENDS AND COUSINS 


“ Oh, what a fine cave ! ” cried Aunt Clare, 
forgetting that she was a prisoner. 

“ Sh ! ” warned Bloody Dick. Kenneth 
looked so fierce in a tarpaulin hat and long 
rubber boots, with his belt stuck full of 
Fourth-of-July pistols, that Aunt Clare almost 
trembled. “ Silence, till our Captain speaks ! ” 
he commanded. 

There was no captain in sight, but presently 
there was a sound of scratching, puffing, snort- 
ing in the chimney. The pirate captain, like 
Santa Claus, was coming down from the roof. 

There was a slip and a rattle of stones, and 
with a thump he tumbled into the middle of 
the cave. It was not quite the entrance he 
had planned, and the first word of the chief 
was an “ Ow ! ” of pain. For a minute he did 
not rise, but sat rubbing some injured spot 
upon his person. Then he reached for his 
sword, which he had lost in the fall, and 
sprang fiercely to his feet, a majestic figure 
(Charlie was a tall boy for ten years). 

The pirate chief wore a great slouch hat 


THE PIRATE CAVE 


53 


pulled down over his mask, below which hung 
a beard of curly black wool. A yellow hand- 
kerchief was knotted about his throat. He 
wore a red sweater, with a skull and crossbones 
on the breast, fringed leggings, and his belt 
bristled with knives, daggers, and pistols, to say 
nothing of the huge tin sword which he bran- 
dished fiercely. He truly was a terrible figure. 
Little Jane trembled and clung close to Sue 
when he hissed through his teeth : — - 

“Well, my hearties, whom have we here? 
Bulldog Bill thirsts for vengeance and for 
gold! ” 

“ Captain,” said Bloody Dick, “ these are 
land-lubbers who were coming to our cave. 
We have captured them and their treasure, 
which looks valuable. What shall we do with 
them ?” 

“ Let the prisoners die,” said the captain, in 
a blood-curdling voice. “ Let them walk the 
plank ; but we will keep the treasure.” 

With a scream Aunt Clare threw herself 
on her knees before the pirate captain. “ Oh, 


54 


FRIENDS AND COUSINS 


good Captain Bulldog/’ she said, “ spare us ! 
we are so young and innocent. One of us has 
a dear little baby at home who will feel so 
sad to lose us ! Take our treasure, if you will, 
but spare our lives. Yonder coffee-pot is solid 
tin, and so are the knives and spoons. Let 
such a prize content you ! ” 

Aunt Clare pretended to cry so pitifully that 
the three smallest pirates began to boohoo 
with sympathy, until Slippery Dick whis- 
pered : — 

“Sh! You kids! She’s only pretending. 
Don’t you know it ’s all play ?” 

Bulldog Bill listened to the prisoner’s words, 
but shook his head. “ It is not enough,” he 
said. “ What will you do for us besides?” 

“ We will be your slaves,” said Aunt Clare. 
“ We will prepare your dinner.” 

Still the captain shook his head. “ Can’t 
you do something else ? ” he asked. 

Aunt Clare had an idea. “ I will tell you 
a story,” she said. 

“ Ha ! that is good ! ” exclaimed the captain. 


THE PIRATE CAVE 


55 


“You shall tell us a tale, but it must be one 
that we have never heard before. If you do 
this we will set you free.” 

“ Give me time to think, and I will pro- 
mise to tell you a tale which you never heard 
before,” said Aunt Clare. 

“ V ery good,” growled Bulldog Bill. “ Loose 
the prisoners’ bonds so that they can prepare 
our meal. But guard them well so that they 
cannot escape.” 

Bloody Dick and Slippery Joe untied the 
prisoners’ hands, while the other pirates 
guarded the entrance of the cave. 

“ Now, then,” said the pirate captain, “ we 
are hungry. Let us dine at once. Prisoners, 
prepare the food ! ” 

“ It is too early for luncheon,” said Mrs. 
Thornton. But the pirates began to clamor. 
Aunt Clare sided with them. 

“ Let them have their way,” she begged. 
“ Hungry pirates are very dangerous ! Besides, 
I confess that I am half starved myself.” 

“Well, then, we must have a fire,” said 


56 


FRIENDS AND COUSINS 


Mrs. Thornton. “ Who will gather wood for 
the fire ? ” 

“ Let the four youngest pirates do that,” 
said the captain. So Jane, Bill, Bob, and Rose 
went out to hunt for driftwood on the beach. 
Presently they were running in and out like 
ants, bringing it by armfuls. 

“We must have water,” said Mrs. Thorn- 
ton. “Who will go to the spring for it ?” 

“ Let me go,” said Sue. 

“No, the jug will be heavy. Let Slippery 
Joe fetch the water,” commanded the cap- 
tain. So Slippery Joe went forth. “We others 
will examine the treasure,” said the captain. 
The remaining four, Charlie, Kenneth, Mary, 
and Sue, sat down on the ground and began 
to unpack the baskets which had come in the 
boat. And as they unwrapped one after an- 
other of the good things, they smacked their 
lips and squealed with delight. They were so 
interested in the treasure that they forgot all 
about their prisoners. But suddenly they heard 
a shout from outside the cave : — 


THE PIRATE CAVE 


57 


“ Catch him ! He ’s running away ! ” 

The pirates jumped to their feet. Mrs. 
Thornton was bending over the fire, doing 
things with the coffee-pot, and Aunt Clare 
was taking the lobsters to pieces. But Mr. 
Thornton had disappeared. 

Bulldog Bill and his men rushed to the door 
echoing the shout of “Catch him! catch him! ,, 
When they were outside they saw the four 
other pirates racing along the beach towards 
the spot where the runaway was disappearing 
over the top of the cliff. The whole band 
started in pursuit, leaving Mama and Aunt 
Clare quite alone ; so that these prisoners might 
have escaped, too, had they tried. But they 
were so interested in preparing dinner that 
they forgot all about it. Just like women ! 

After a long time the pirates returned, 
flushed, panting, and tired, but without their 
prisoner. 

“ Papa ran so fast we could not catch him,” 
explained Rose to her Mama. “He ran away 
into the woods, and we could n’t find him. Oh, 


58 FRIENDS AND COUSINS 

Mama ! I ’m afraid now he won’t be here for 
dinner ! ” Rose looked distressed. 

“ Silence, Burly Ben ! ” said the captain 
sternly. “ This is no fit talk for one of Bull- 
dog Bill’s bloody band ! — My ! how good 
that cocoa smells ! Is dinner almost ready. 
Aunt Clare ? I never was so hungry in my 
life. Can’t I have just one little lobster claw 
to chew ? ” 

Aunt Clare had not spread the tablecloth 
in the cave, for that would have been too dark 
and too crowded for every one to be comfort- 
able. But the flat rock out in front of the cave 
made a fine table, with room for every one 
to sit cross-legged around it in pirate fashion. 
Each person had a big, round scallop-shell for 
a plate, with a tin cup of cocoa beside it, and 
such a lovely luncheon was spread on the white 
cloth as the little Prouts at least had never be- 
fore seen. They all sat down together, prison- 
ers and pirates, and the pirates forgot for a 
time that they were anything but hungry girls 
and boys. 


THE PIRATE CAVE 


59 


“ It is too bad that Papa is n’t here,” said 
Mrs. Thornton. 

“ Too bad ! ” echoed Kenneth and Rose 
sorrowfully. 

But before many minutes they heard a sound 
of some one scrambling down the cliff close 
by, and presently Mr. Thornton himself crept 
sheepishly up to the group. 

“ Please, Mr. Pirate Captain,” he said, 
“ may I come back to dinner ? When I ran 
away I forgot about Aunt Clare’s story. I 
don’t mind starving to death, as I came very 
near doing on this desert island, but I could 
not bear to lose the story. Let me dine and 
hear the tale, then I will walk the plank 
gladly.” 

“ Have you any ransom ? ” asked the pirate 
chief, taking a huge bite of sandwich. 

Mr. Thornton slapped his pockets doubt- 
fully. Then his face brightened. “Yes! Ido 
happen to have one bit of treasure about me 
which you did not take away,” he said. “You 
forgot, I think, to go through my pockets.” 


6o 


FRIENDS AND COUSINS 


He drew out a bag of peanuts and handed 
it to Bulldog Bill, then seized a sandwich in 
each hand. “Fair exchange! ” he cried. The 
children set up a shout of delight. 

“ It is a good treasure,” said Bulldog Bill 
approvingly, as he helped himself. 

“ I would have starved rather than eat 
them,” said Mr. Thornton, with a sad voice. 
“ I bought them as a present for my innocent 
children at home. But since I have fallen into 
the power of this pirate crew you must do with 
them as you think best.” 

Now the pirates knew what it was best to 
do with peanuts ; and they did it. When 
every one had eaten all he possibly could, the 
captain suddenly remembered that he was a 
pirate. He put on his tarpaulin hat, and seiz- 
ing his sword, said sternly to Aunt Clare : — 

“ It is now time for the story. Prisoner, 
begin ; but beware how you tell us one which 
we have heard before. If it is a chestnut you 
shall die.” 

“ Fierce Captain,” said Aunt Clare, “ did 


THE PIRATE CAVE 


61 


you ever hear the tale called ‘ The Pirate 
Hoard ’ ? ” 

“No/’ said Captain Bulldog, “ I never did. 
Has any one here ever heard this tale ?” And 
every one answered, “ No ! ” 

“ I thought not,” said Aunt Clare. 

“ V ery good/ ’ said the captain ; “ go On with 
the story.” 

And this is the story which Aunt Clare 
told. 


CHAPTER VII 


THE PIRATE HOARD 
HIS is a story of Captain Kidd, who 



A was, you know, the greatest pirate of 
them all in old times. 

One day this terrible fellow was cruising 
about in these very waters, with a ship full of 
gold and jewels and precious things which he 
had stolen. You see, he wanted to find a new 
place in which to bury this particular treasure. 
He was always hiding things. He buried his 
different hoards all along the coast from Maine 
to Mexico, just as squirrels hide their nuts 
wherever it is convenient. You can scarcely 
find any place, however tiny, which has not 
a story that Captain Kidd’s treasure is buried 
somewhere near. Like the squirrels, Captain 
Kidd often went away and forgot about his 
treasure, and never returned to dig it up. 


THE PIRATE HOARD 63 

Well, Captain Kidd was cruising along this 
coast, with his ship full of treasure. He had 
been enjoying great luck on his last voyage. 
That means, of course, that a great many 
other people had been most unlucky. In those 
days about the unluckiest thing that could 
happen to anybody was to meet Captain Kidd 
on the high seas. Pirates were such greedy, 
cruel fellows, — I beg your pardon ! I forgot 
that nearly every one here is a pirate. How 
careless of me ! 

Captain Kidd was a long way from shore 
when he ran into a fog, — a thick Maine fog ; 
the kind that Islanders know so well. It was 
so thick that one could scarcely see a ship’s 
length ahead. All of a sudden the pirate look- 
out called to the captain : — 

“ Sail ahead ! ” and sure enough ! out of 
the fog loomed a sailing vessel, so near that 
the two bowsprits were almost touching. 

Now, this stranger was a fishing-boat named 
the Mary Ann. She was a Maine fishing-boat, 
like your father’s, Tom Prout, and she was on 


6 4 


FRIENDS AND COUSINS 


her way home from the Banks with a cargo 
of fish. The captain, whose name was Tobey, 
was frightened out of his wits when he saw 
the black flag flying at the mast of Captain 
Kidd’s vessel. Of course, he knew what this 
meant. If he were captured by the pirate ship 
he should never see his home and dear little 
children again. So he put about, and the Mary 
Ann scuttled away for dear life, without stop- 
ping to say “ Howdy.” 

When Captain Kidd saw the other boat go 
about, he grinned a dreadful grin and said, — 
“Oho! You are running away, are you? 
Well, that must mean that you have some pre- 
cious treasure aboard. Let’s after them, my 
hearties, and give them a chase.” 

You see, he was greedy as well as cruel. 
Already he had more treasure than he knew 
what to do with, but he longed for more. 
This was just like a pirate — I beg your par- 
don, Captain Bulldog ! I forgot again. 

Now began an exciting chase through the 
fog. The little Mary Ann was a fast boat, and 


THE PIRATE HOARD 


65 


for a time she kept ahead of the pirate ship, 
which could barely see her scudding like a 
sea-gull through the fog. But finally poor 
Captain Tobey saw that the pirate ship was 
gaining on him, and his heart sank. Alas ! 
what could he do? He thought of his chil- 
dren at home, and the tears filled his eyes. 

Suddenly he had an idea ! He knew every 
rock and shoal in the bay, which was full of 
rocks and shoals. He remembered that there 
must be a reef close by, a reef which came al- 
most to the surface of the sea. Until one was 
quite close he would not see it, hidden by 
this fog. Captain Tobey steered straight for 
the place where he knew that reef must be, 
straight to a froth of white foam. 

The pirate ship followed where he led 
and came on, gaining every minute. Now 
Captain Tobey held his breath. They were 
in the waves that broke upon the reef! But 
the Mary Ann went safely over without touch- 
ing, because she was so small. And the big 
vessel flying the black flag came close after her. 


66 FRIENDS AND COUSINS 

Crash ! Smash ! “ Hurrah ! ” came a shout 
from the Mary Ann. “ Hurrah ! Good-by ! ” 
The pirate ship was stuck fast on the reef, 
and the waves were beating her to pieces. But 
Captain Tobey did not wait to see what hap- 
pened. He was too eager to get home to his 
wife and babies. The Mary Ann disappeared 
silently through the fog, scudding towards a 
harbor miles away. 

But there was excitement indeed on board 
the pirate ship. The pirates went running 
to and fro, shouting and waving their arms, 
crazy with fear. They tumbled into the long 
boats as fast as they could, without thinking 
anything about their treasure, only of their 
precious lives. But Captain Kidd was different. 
He cared more for his treasure than for any- 
thing. 

“ The mate and I will shift for ourselves ! ” 
he shouted. “ Leave my boat ! ” He knew he 
could not save everything, there was such a 
vast deal of gold and silver and heavy plate 
in the ship. But he ran to his own cabin and 


THE PIRATE HOARD 67 

brought out a little wooden box bound in 
iron. It was full of the most precious treasure 
of all, — diamonds and rubies, sapphires and 
emeralds, and precious stones of every color. 

With this chest under his cloak he got into 
the boat, and his mate, One-Eyed Pete, rowed 
him away. The fog was so thick that they soon 
lost sight of the other boat. A storm was ris- 
ing ; the wind blew so loud and the waves 
roared so terribly that they could not hear 
any answer to their calls. They had to be very 
careful of the rocks and reefs on which the 
waves broke fiercely, and they rowed on and 
on for hours before they found a place where 
they could land. 

But at last they came to a safer shore, with 
an inlet and a smooth beach. They landed, 
and soon discovered that this was a very little 
desert island. 

“ This will be just the place to bury the 
treasure,” said Captain Kidd. “ Let us do so 
before we meet any one who may try to take 
it from us.” 


68 


FRIENDS AND COUSINS 


“Right, Captain,” growled One-Eyed Pete. 

So they dug a hole in the ground and buried 
the treasure, heaping a little mound over it. 
They knew that they should remember the 
spot, because there was close beside it a great 
big rock split open and lying in two pieces 
side by side, like a huge book spread flat upon 
its back. 

Captain Kidd wrote down in his note-book 
a description of the place, and, as well as he 
knew, how they had come there. He drew 
besides a picture of the fog as a sample, so that 
he should recognize it again. For he said, — 
“ I never saw such fog before, in all my life ! ” 
Which proves that all this must have happened 
close by where we are now. 

Then One-Eyed Pete said, — “ Cap’n, a 
terrible storm is coming on, and I think this 
here island is a poor place to be on ; for the 
waves will roll right over it. Let ’s row to the 
mainland, which can’t be far away.” 

So they rowed away again, and after a long 
time spent in trying to find a landing-place, 


THE PIRATE HOARD 


69 

they came to a harbor and a village. They 
pretended that they were shipwrecked sailors, 
so the good people took them in and gave 
them food. What would they have thought 
had they known it was the wicked Captain 
Kidd who was visiting them ! 

The storm lasted several days, but when 
it was over Captain Kidd said “ good-by ” 
politely, and with One-Eyed Pete went out 
on the first fishing-boat that left the harbor. 
Nobody discovered who they were. They ex- 
changed passage into the first vessel they met, 
and were soon far over the seas. 

After that Captain Kidd lived to have many 
wild adventures, and he forgot all about his 
treasure in the little iron-bound box on the 
desert Island. No one ever heard of the other 
pirates, who must have been drowned in the 
storm that night. The pirate ship went to 
pieces, and some bits of the treasure were 
washed ashore with its timbers, and the fish- 
ermen’s children found them on the beach. 
But it is not known that any one ever found 


7 o 


FRIENDS AND COUSINS 


the captain’s jewels, and I dare say the box is 
there to this day. Just think, if only one could 
find it ! 


Aunt Clare ended her story with a sigh, 
echoed by all the little girls. “ I wish I had 
some diamonds now,” said Rose wistfully. 

“ Oh, so do I, — and rubies! ” cried Mary. 

“ Is that all ? ” asked Kenneth and Charlie, 
in one breath. 

“ Is it true ? ” demanded Tom eagerly. 

“ ’Course it is true,” cried Charlie. “ Did n’t 
you ever hear of Captain Kidd ? ” 

“ I don’t know for certain that it is all true,” 
said Aunt Clare, “ but it might be. There were 
pirates who buried their treasure in desert is- 
lands. Why, I ’ve heard the fishermen of this 
very place tell that there was treasure buried 
around here somewhere. No one knows 
where.” 

“ It might be this very same treasure ! ” cried 
Kenneth, “ might n’t it. Aunt Clare ? ” 


THE PIRATE HOARD 71 

“ I suppose it might,” she answered, laugh- 
ing. 

The boys exchanged eager looks. They did 
not say anything about it then, but they each 
knew that they were resolved to find that 
pirate treasure if it was anywhere near the 
Island. 

As for the little girls, they were helping to 
pack up the lunch baskets ; for the released 
prisoners were now ready to go home, and 
some of the pirates were going with them. 


CHAPTER VIII 


TREASURE TROVE 

O NE morning, about a week later, three of 
the pirates — Tom, Charlie, and Ken- 
neth — got into a dory and rowed away from 
the harbor. It was Tom’s own boat, of which 
he was very proud. He had spent all his life 
near and in and on the water, and he was a 
splendid boatman. Mr. Thornton was not 
afraid to let the children go with him in his 
dory, but he made them promise that never 
more than two should go with Tom at one 
time. 

The pirates had with them in the boat three 
spades; they looked very sly, as though they 
were upon a secret errand. T om was the leader 
in this adventure, and he seemed to know just 
where to go. They rowed around the Point 
and then straight out into the bay towards 


TREASURE TROVE 


73 


a little rocky island, beyond the other is- 
lands. They followed the shore of it until 
they came to an inlet with a smooth beach 
beyond. 

“This is the place/’ said Tom, jumping 
out and pulling up the boat. “ Come on, fel- 
lows ! ” 

He raced up the beach followed by the 
other two, and climbed a bank. At the top 
was a spring of cool, clear water under a tree, 
and close beside it was a huge rock. 

“Look at that ! ” cried Tom, pointing at the 
rock. “ What do you think of that ? ” 

The rock was split into two flat pieces, each 
almost square, which lay side by side. It looked 
like a great book spread open. 

“ It is the very rock that Aunt Clare told 
about in the story ! ” cried Charlie. 

“ Where is the mound ? ” asked Kenneth 
eagerly. “ Oh, I see ! This must be it.” 

Sure enough ! Close beside the rock and 
near the spring the ground swelled into a 
mound covered with grass. 


74 


FRIENDS AND COUSINS 


“ Of course this must be the place,” said 
Charlie excitedly. “ How did you ever find it, 
Tom?” 

“Well, when she was telling the story I 
remembered this island, and I thought it was 
just the place that the pirates would have 
come to first when they drifted in from sea ; so 
I rowed over to look at it. I found the cove 
was just as she had said, and sure enough ! 
there was the rock like a big book, and the 
mound. I knew this must be the place. I 
wanted to begin to dig right away, but I 
thought it would n’t be fair without you fel- 
lows, ’cause you were the ones to tell me about 
pirates first.” 

“ Let ’s begin to dig now,” said Kenneth 
eagerly. 

“ Let ’s ! ” cried Charlie. So they ran down 
to the dory and got their spades. Then they 
all fell to work. 

The mound was not hard like ordinary 
earth. When they had gone through the sod 
their spades struck something queer. Charlie 


TREASURE TROVE 


75 


took some of it up in his hand. “ Why, it ’s 
broken shells,” he said. 

“ Clam shells ! ” exclaimed Kenneth, pick- 
ing up two which were still unbroken. “ The 
pirates must have had clams for their dinner, 
and have piled the shells on top of their trea- 
sure. Oh, hurry ! this proves there is something 
here, doesn’t it? ” 

Eagerly they set to work again. It was 
amazing to see what a number of shells there 
were in that mound. It was made of nothing 
else. Down, down they dug until they had a 
hole as large as Tom’s body. But still there 
was no sign of any treasure. Their spades tossed 
up broken shells and nothing more. 

“ My ! Those two pirates must have had a 
big clambake all by themselves,” said Charlie, 
pausing to wipe his streaming forehead. 

“ I suppose Captain Kidd was an awful 
eater,” said Kenneth. “ But I say, how could 
they finish so many clams ? ” 

“ Huh ! I could eat half a barrel of steamed 
clams any day,” protested Tom. “ Those two 


?6 


FRIENDS AND COUSINS 


pirates were regular cannibals, I expect. Be- 
sides, they were eating on purpose to have 
shells enough to cover the treasure, don’t you 
see ? ” 

Once more they fell to work, and they 
dug for ten minutes without a word. But 
presently, with a sigh, they all three stopped 
again. It was a hot day and this was hard 
work. 

“ If we find the treasure we must give some 
to the girls,” said Kenneth. 

“ Of course,” agreed Tom. “ They are pi- 
rates, too. The band will all have to share.” 

“ Let ’s give each of the others three dia- 
monds and three rubies and three sapphires 
and three emeralds,” said Charlie, with sudden 
inspiration. 

“All right,” agreed Tom and Kenneth. 
“And we’ll divide the rest equally among us 
three,” added Kenneth. 

Then they began work again. But still there 
was no sign of that iron-bound box. Their 
arms were growing very tired. They were 


TREASURE TROVE 


77 


almost ready to give it up. Suddenly Kenneth 
stooped and picked up something. 

“ Hello ! ” he said. “ What ’s this ? ” 

It was a small pointed stone, flat on both 
sides. The other two boys examined it eagerly. 
“ Why, it looks like an Indian arrowhead/ ’ 
said Charlie ; “ but how came it here ?” 

“ Perhaps the pirates used bows and arrows 
too,” suggested Tom. 

“ That’s it ! ” cried Kenneth. “ I’m almost 
sure they did. I remember once seeing an old 
picture of men fighting with bows and arrows, 
and they were not Indians. They must have 
been pirates. Hurrah ! I guess we are near the 
treasure now ! ” 

They dug down with new energy, tossing 
up the shell-earth like beavers. Presently 
Charlie stooped. “ I ’ ve found something too,” 
he said ; “ but I don’t know what it is.” It 
was a curious round stone, hollow and smooth 
in the middle. 

In a few minutes Tom stooped also. 
“ Here ’s something else,” he said, pulling out 


FRIENDS AND COUSINS 


78 

a very long, three-sided stone roughly sharp- 
ened on one edge. “ What do you suppose this 
is ? ” 

“ Maybe it is an anchor,” suggested Ken- 
neth. But it did not look much like an anchor. 
They worked for another ten minutes, then 
they stopped, for nothing else came to light. 

“ I don’t think these are much,” said 
Charlie, kicking the stone things with his foot. 
“ I don’t believe there is anything else here. 
These old shells go down and down, — to 
China, I guess. The pirates could n’t have 
eaten so many clams, you know. Let ’s give 
it up.” 

“ Yes, let ’s,” agreed Kenneth, tossing away 
his spade and sitting down to rest. “ I ’m tired 
and I ’m not going to dig any more.” 

“ Oh, come ! Don’t give up so soon ! ” 
begged Tom. “I’m going to work awhile 
longer.” 

Charlie looked at his watch. “ It is noon 
already,” he said. “ I ’m hungry, and Aunt 
Mollie does n’t like us to be late for dinner. 



TOM, CHARLIE, AND KENNETH DIG FOR THE TREASURE 



TREASURE TROVE 


79 


Let ’s go home. There is n’t anything here 
but old stone things, and they are no good.” 

“The pirates left them,” said Tom dog- 
gedly. “ I ’m going to work a little longer. 
Say, will you fellows dig for ten minutes more? 
Then if we don’t find anything I ’ll agree to 
give it up.” 

“ All right,” said the other two. 

Once more they set to work with tired arms. 
They dug and they dug through the dust of 
broken clam-shells, of which there seemed 
to be no end. But still there was no sign of 
the iron-bound box. It was very discouraging. 
All they found was a few more arrowheads 
and some knobby stones with grooves about 
the top. They were hardly worth picking up, 
it seemed. The boys tossed them aside in a 
little heap with the other stone things. Then 
they threw down their spades, rubbing their 
aching backs and arms. All these pains for 
nothing ! 

“ It ’s no use,” said Charlie. “ There can’t 
be anything here. We shall have to give it up.” 


8o 


FRIENDS AND COUSINS 


“ It is long after dinner time. Perhaps we 
shan’t get any, and they will scold us,” said 
Kenneth ruefully. 

“ Huh ! Only a lot of old stone things ! ” 
growled Tom, kicking the heap spitefully. 
“ They are n’t worth taking home, are they ?” 

“ Oh, yes ! We must show them all to 
father. Perhaps he can tell us what they are,” 
said Kenneth. 

“ Well, come on, then,” urged Charlie. “ I 
wish we had gone an hour ago. I hate cold 
dinners. Oh, what a wasted morning ! ” 

Tom lingered wistfully. “ It looks just like 
a treasure place,” he said, “and I felt some- 
how as if we should find it here. There must 
be some mistake.” 

“Oh, come on, Tom ! ” called the others 
impatiently; and he hurried down to the beach 
where they had carried the stone things. Soon 
they were rowing back to their own island. 
But they were very silent and sulky all the 
way. Their treasure hunt had not been a suc- 
cess, and they were hungry and cross. Tom 


TREASURE TROVE 


81 


was the gloomiest of the three. He felt that 
they blamed him for their disappointment. 
But it had mattered most to him. 

“ I wanted to take home a handful of dia- 
monds to Mary/’ he said to himself. “ How 
pleased she would be ! Then we would all be 
rich. But I would give the handsomest dia- 
mond of all to Rose.” 

Mr. Thornton was on the beach looking for 
them when they came in. He had been greatly 
worried because they had been gone so long ; 
but he did not scold them when they told him 
what they had been doing. 

“Tom thought that he had found Cap- 
tain Kidd’s hiding-place. Papa,” said Kenneth 
wearily. “It looked just like the mound that 
Aunt Clare told us about ; but there was n’t 
any treasure at all, only some old stone things 
in a heap of shells.” 

“ Stone things in a shell-heap ?” asked Mr. 
Thornton, pricking up his ears. “ What do you 
mean by that ?” 

“We brought these home, Uncle Jack,” 


82 


FRIENDS AND COUSINS 


said Charlie, pulling out the stone things from 
under the seat of the dory. 

“ Hello ! Some good Indian arrowheads and 
sinkers ; a stone mortar for grinding corn ; and 
this, — why! this is as fine an Indian plow 
as I ever saw. Which of you found this, boys ? ” 
cried Mr. Thornton excitedly. 

“Tom found that,” said Kenneth without 
envy. 

“ Well, Tom, I must buy this of you. Boys, 
you have found a treasure indeed, though it is 
not the kind you were looking for. You must 
have come upon an Indian shell-mound, and I 
dare say there are still more things there to be 
discovered. But come now, you must be half 
starved. I know Mama and Aunt Clare are 
very anxious, — I dare say Tom’s mother is 
not the worrying kind. Let ’s all go home and 
have some cold dinner. Then we will look at 
your treasures again. Tom, you ought to be 
proud of your morning’s work ! I wish I had 
discovered that shell-mound myself ! ” 


CHAPTER IX 


THE BOX OF CANDY 

A LTHOUGH the boys had been disap- 
pointed in the kind of treasure which 
they had found, the Indian relics proved a real 
treasure, after all. The next day Mr. Thorn- 
ton went over to the island with them, and 
they brought back a few more stone things 
from the mound, but nothing so fine as Tom’s 
plow. However, Mr. Thornton said that 
there might be other interesting things there 
which they could dig up when they chose. 

Mr. Thornton was so pleased with the boys’ 
discovery that he paid Kenneth and Charlie 
each two dollars for their share of the treasure. 
But he gave Tom five dollars to pay for his 
plow and for first discovering the mound, 
which had once been an Indian picnic-place. 
He said these relics should be used to start an 


8 4 


FRIENDS AND COUSINS 


Island museum, to match the Island library. 
And perhaps some day they would find other 
things to make the collection more complete. 

Tom felt very rich indeed. He had never 
owned so much money in all his life, and he 
could not decide what to do with it. There 
are so many things which one can do with 
five dollars, especially if one is a boy. But he 
resolved not to be in a hurry to spend it. 

There was a famous professor staying at the 
hotel on the other end of the Island, and 
one day Mr. Thornton said to Kenneth and 
Charlie : — 

“Boys, I want to take your Indian relics 
over to the hotel and show them to the Pro- 
fessor. I should like to know what he thinks 
of them. Shall we get Tom and row around 
there ?” 

Of course, the boys were delighted to go. 
They had not been to the hotel that summer, 
and usually there were some interesting pup- 
pies in the stable. They found Tom and his 
dory, and presently they were on their way. 


THE BOX OF CANDY 


85 

When they reached the hotel Mr. Thornton 
went to find the Professor, while the boys 
started to look for the puppies. But as they 
went past the piazza they heard the hotel 
keeper talking to a group of ladies. 

“ No, there is not a mosquito on the Island,” 
he asserted. “That is one of the things of 
which we are most proud. I will give a five- 
pound box of the very best candy to any one 
who will find a mosquito on this Island.” 

The three boys smacked their lips. “ Did 
you hear that? Um ! I’d like that box of 
candy,” sighed Charlie. “I haven’t had any 
for weeks.” 

“ Five pounds of candy all at once ! ” cried 
Tom. “ I never had so much in all my life.” 

“ Oh, I have,” said Kenneth, “at Christmas 
time. My ! Is n’t it good ! I wish I could find 
that mosquito ; but I suppose no one will. 
There is n’t one on the Island, is there, Tom ? 
You ought to know.” 

“No,” said Tom. “I never saw one here. 
I am sure there is n’t one ” — He stopped short 


86 


FRIENDS AND COUSINS 


with a sudden wicked idea. “ There might be, 
though,” he added under his breath. 

“ I could n’t buy five pounds of very best 
candy with my two dollars, could I, Charlie?” 
asked Kenneth. 

“ No ; but Tom could with his five, if he 
wanted to spend the money so,” said Charlie. 

“ I don’t want to spend the money so,” 
said Tom almost crossly. But how he did long 
for that candy ! The boys did not understand 
what made him act so queer. He paid very 
little attention to the five lovely puppies in the 
stable. Even when Mr. Thornton came with 
the Professor, who told them how proud they 
ought to feel because they had found such an 
interesting shell-mound, praising Tom espe- 
cially, he did not seem to care. All the way 
home he spoke scarcely a word. He was think- 
ing of something very different from what the 
others were saying. 

When they reached the Cove the boys asked 
T om to come and play pirate after dinner. But 
Tom said : — 


THE BOX OF CANDY 87 

“No, I’m going to be busy this after- 
noon.” 

“Are you going to hunt for more trea- 
sure?” asked Mr. Thornton, laughing. Tom 
looked queer, but shook his head. 

“No,” he said. “ I ’ve — I ’ve got an errand 
to attend to.” And that was all he had to say. 

After dinner Tom rowed away all alone out 
into the bay, and he was gone until supper 
time. When he came back he pulled his boat 
up on the beach and fumbled in his pocket. 
He was looking for something so very small 
that at first he thought he had lost it. But 
no, — there it was, all right. It was a tiny 
pill box. Tom took off the cover and looked 
in, grinning to himself. He seemed pleased 
with his day’s work. 

At the supper table Tom’s mother suddenly 
bent forward and looked at his face sharply. 
“ Why, Tom ! ” she said. “Where have you 
been to get all bitten up so ? Y ou are covered 
with mosquito bites! You never got them 
around here. You must have been over to 


88 


FRIENDS AND COUSINS 


Mouse Island. There are lots of mosquitoes in 
the swamp there.” 

Tom turned very red. “ Yes, I rowed over 
to Mouse — this morning. There were two 
young fish-hawks in the nest on the old pine 
tree,” he said briefly. 

“ Did the other boys go with you ? ” asked 
his mother. 

“ No ; I went all alone,” he answered, bend- 
ing his face low over his plate. And then the 
children began to chatter about something else, 
for which Tom was glad. 

The next morning Tom took his dory and 
rowed around the Island to the hotel. When 
he came up to the piazza he found Mr. Smith, 
the hotel man, talking to a group of ladies, 
just as he had been doing the day before. Tom 
took off his cap politely, and said : — 

“ Good-morning, sir. I ’d like to speak 
with you.” 

“ Hello!” said Mr. Smith. “ You are one 
of the Island boys, are n’t you ? Well, what 
do you want with me, my hearty ? ” 


THE BOX OF CANDY 89 

Tom drew something out of his pocket and 
handed it to Mr. Smith. 

“What’s this? A pill box!” said Mr. 
Smith, greatly puzzled. “ I don’t want any 
pills ! ” All the ladies smiled. 

“ There ’s a mosquito inside, sir,” said Tom. 
“ I heard what you said yesterday : that you ’d 
give a box of candy to any one who would 
bring you a mosquito; so I found one for 
you. He ’s dead, sir,” he added reassuringly, 
as Mr. Smith hesitated about taking off the 
cover of the pill box. 

There was a chorus of laughs at the ex- 
pression on Mr. Smith’s face ; but finally he 
decided to smile. “Well, I am surprised and 
shocked,” he said. “ I could have declared sol- 
emnly that there was not a wicked mosquito 
on this island. But I will wager that this is the 
only one.” 

“ Better not make any more rash offers, 
Mr. Smith,” said one of the girls. “You may 
have to pay for more candy than you bargain 
for. We will all set out to hunt.” 


90 


FRIENDS AND COUSINS 


“ No, I don’t repeat my offer,” said Mr. 
Smith hastily. “ But I suppose I must pay my 
debt to our friend here. You come around 
to-morrow morning, Sonny,” he said to Tom, 
“ and get your candy. I ’ll send to the city for 
it by Captain Sackett.” 

“ Smart boy, is n’t he ? ” said one lady to 
another, as Tom went away. “ He has such an 
honest face.” 

Tom heard her words, and his ears turned 
red. But as he rowed home he thought tri- 
umphantly, “ How good that candy will be! ” 
and he smacked his lips. 


CHAPTER X 


THE OUTLAW 

Y ES, it was line candy ! Tom thought he 
had never tasted anything half so good, 
as he took the first nibble. For Mr. Smith kept 
his promise, and the candy came safely in Cap- 
tain Sackett’s care. Five pounds in a beautiful 
pink box tied with gold string ! 

Tom was eager to share it with his brothers 
and sisters and with the other pirates ; for he 
was a generous boy. 

“ I ’ll give them a surprise ! ” he said, 
chuckling to himself as he rowed home from 
the hotel. He knew where he should find the 
band, for Mary had said that they were all 
going that morning to play in the pirate 
cave. So he did not go straight home, but 
rowed on around the Point. He beached his 
boat before any one heard him, and ran up 
towards the cave, giving a loud war-whoop. 


92 


FRIENDS AND COUSINS 


“ Hello ! where is everybody ? ” he cried. 

The pirates came running from every direc- 
tion. “Here’s Tom!” cried Mary. “Oh, 
Tom ! Where have you been ?” 

“ Welcome, Slippery Joe,” said the chief. 
“Have you had an adventure? ” 

“ I have captured some treasure,” said Tom, 
grinning. “ Look here ! ” and he held up the 
box of candy. 

“ Candy ! ” A shout of joy arose, and the 
pirates surrounded him eagerly. 

“It’s share alike,” said Tom. “ I have 
eaten only one piece so far.” 

“ Oh, Tom ! how good of you ! ” cried 
Rose. “ It is real city candy and must have 
cost a lot of money. Did you buy it with 
your five dollars ? ” 

“I know! I know!” shouted Kenneth. 
“ He found the mosquito ; did n’t you, 
Tom?” 

Tom nodded. “ Yes, I found him and got 
the prize.” 

“What do you mean about a mosquito?” 


THE OUTLAW 


93 


“Tell us about it !” begged the pirates. So 
they all sat down in a circle, each one munch- 
ing a delicious bit of candy, while Tom told 
about Mr. Smith’s offer, which Charlie and 
Kenneth knew already. 

“ I believed that there was n’t any use in 
trying,” said Kenneth. “ You thought your- 
self that there was n’t a single mosquito on 
the Island ; did n’t you, Tom ? ” 

“I know I thought so,” began Tom, 
“but” — He was interrupted by Susan. 

“Oh, I know where he found it! ” she 
said. “ He went over to Mouse Island the 
other day. There are lots of mosquitoes there. 
He was all covered with bites when he came 
back.” 

“Oh, but that wasn’t fair!” cried Rose; 
“that was cheating. Oh, Tom!” She put 
back the piece of candy which she had taken 
as the box was passed around the circle for the 
second time. 

There was a long silence. Tom turned red 
and looked sulky. “ What ’s the use of being 


94 


FRIENDS AND COUSINS 


fussy? I’m a pirate, anyway/’ he said. “ Are n’t 
we all pirates ? ” 

Charlie and Kenneth looked at each other, 
then Charlie spoke like the chief of the band : 
“ That was n’t playing, Tom,” he said; “ that 
was a real lie. We are n’t going to play that 
way, if I am captain. We aren’t going to 
tell any lies. Here! take your old candy. We 
don’t want any of it. Put it back ! ” he com- 
manded the others. And reluctantly they all 
did as Rose had done. 

“Ho! all right !” said Tom, jumping to his 
feet angrily. “ If you don’t want any, I guess 
I can manage to worry it down. But you are 
awful sillies. I won’t belong to your old band ! ” 
and he flounced out of the cave with the box 
of candy under his arm. So Tom became an 
outlaw. 

Tom munched away at his candy all by 
himself, and tried to pretend that he enjoyed it 
very much. But somehow it was not as good 
as he had expected. The emptier the box be- 
came the less he cared for the candy, which 


THE OUTLAW 


95 


was a very odd thing. Usually, as every one 
knows, unless one gobbles it all at once like a 
little pig, the candy grows better and better, 
until when there are only a few pieces left it 
is so perfectly delicious that one cannot bear to 
think of its disappearing altogether. Before 
the box was half finished Tom was heartily 
tired of it. When the last piece was gone he 
took the box out in his dory, threw it over- 
board, and smashed it viciously with his oar. 

“ I don’t want to see any more candy as long 
as I live ! ” he said. But this was a week later. 

All this time Tom had been an outlaw. 
He would not play with the other children, 
not even with his brothers and sisters ; for he 
thought that they were all in league against 
him. He thought they were all disloyal. He 
had meant to be generous, and share his candy 
with them ; but they had looked at it in a 
different way. How silly it was to pretend 
that he was not playing pirate fairly ! Why, 
pirates did much worse things than that ! He 
had never thought till now that it was mean 


96 FRIENDS AND COUSINS 

to tell a lie; but when he remembered how 
shocked Rose had looked, Tom turned very 
red. That was hardest of all to bear, — that 
Rose should think him mean. 

Tom wondered if any one would tell his 
father and mother. But no one did. The pirate 
captain had made his band promise not to be 
“telltales.” Tom did not know this, however, 
and at every meal-time he eyed his brothers 
and sisters suspiciously, waiting to see what 
would happen. 

His mother said sometimes, “How queer 
you act nowadays, Tom ! What is the matter 
with you ? ” 

“Nothing,” Tom would answer sulkily; 
and as soon as he could leave the table he 
would go off by himself. 

The pirate band was sadly broken. Mary 
felt so sorry about Tom, who would not let 
her talk to him, that she stayed at home and 
cried a good deal. Except Sue, the other little 
Prouts would not go anywhere without Mary. 
Sue was the only one who went to Sweetbrier 


THE OUTLAW 


97 


Cottage. But Charlie and Kenneth said it was 
no fun playing pirate without more boys. So 
they went off by themselves, while Sue and 
Rose played dolls in Beech House. Nobody 
was so happy as before that unlucky mosquito 
had spoiled everything. 

All this while Tom had plenty of time to 
think. Somehow things looked different to 
him now. Gradually he had been making up 
his mind. 

One day he got into his dory and rowed 
around the Island to the end where the hotel 
stood. As usual there was a crowd upon the 
piazza, with Mr. Smith in the midst. Tom 
thought it was the largest crowd he had ever 
seen. He hung back and hesitated at first, but 
finally he screwed up his courage. He went 
straight to the hotel man and stood twirling 
his cap uneasily. Then he spoke quickly : — 

“ I have come to tell you, sir, that I didn’t 
play fair about that mosquito. I knew what 
you said was true, and that there wasn’t one 
on the Island ; so I went over to Mouse, where 


FRIENDS AND COUSINS 


98 

there are a plenty, and I caught one there. It 
was a lie, and I am sorry. I have just five dol- 
lars, — I guess that will pay for the candy, 
Here it is, sir.” And he thrust into the hand 
of the amazed Mr. Smith the bill which Mr. 
Thornton had given him to pay for his share 
in the pirate treasure. 

“ Hold on ! Stop ! ” cried Mr. Smith, as 
Tom darted away. But he soon saw that it 
was no use for a little fat man like him to try 
to catch Tom, who had the start. So he sat 
down again, shaking his head. 

“ I don’t even know his name ! ” he said, 
looking helplessly at the bill in his hand. “ But 
this relieves my mind very much. I am greatly 
pleased, ladies, that you have this assurance that 
our Island is without mosquitoes.” 

“ He was a brave boy to confess before us 
all,” said one of the ladies. “ I like his face. 
I wish we knew who he is.” 

“So do I,” said Mr. Smith. “ I must find 
out.” 


CHAPTER XI 


GULL ROCK 

S USAN and Rose were tired of playing dolls 
in Beech House all by themselves. 

“ Let’s not play this any more,” said Rose. 
“ Sue, let us go and look for that treasure, the 
real treasure, which the boys could not find.” 
“ All right,” said Sue. “ Let’s ! ” 

They ran along the cliff until they came to 
the bathing beach, then they climbed down 
to the sand. 

“ I know where I think the treasure is,” 
said Rose. “ I think it is out there on that great 
big pile of rock where the gulls are. I have 
always wanted to go out on those rocks, but 
sometimes one can’t go, because there is water 
all around them. See, we could go now.” 

“ Yes,” said Susan. “ I never was out there 
either. Let ’s go ! ” 


Lore. 


100 


FRIENDS AND COUSINS 


This stony point, of which Rose spoke, was 
called Gull Rock. It rose gray and jagged out 
of the sea, looking like a castle of stone. It 
was a favorite resting-place of the sea-gulls. 
Great flocks of them wheeled and screamed 
around the rocks and settled on them in gray 
clouds. There was a narrow pathway of stones 
which led out to Gull Rock, and on each side 
of the path the waves lapped gently. The tide 
was coming in. 

“ Let ’s take off our shoes and stockings,” 
said Rose. So they did. “ Now, follow my 
leader ! ” Rose cried ; and with much squeal- 
ing and giggling the little girls began to hop 
from stone to stone along the narrow path. 
It was very exciting ! They kept tumbling 
down, for the rocks were wet and slippery, 
and in some places were covered with seaweed, 
which as every one knows is the slitheriest 
kind of thing under foot! Sometimes their feet 
went splash! into the pools of water which 
stood here and there on the path. But they did 
not mind that, because their feet were bare. 



rose and sue cross upon the slippery stones 













«■ 






























GULL ROCK 


IOI 


At last they came to Gull Rock. They 
climbed up to the top. My ! how surprised the 
sea-gulls were when the two little heads ap- 
peared above the edge of the rock, and how 
fast they flapped away, chattering and scream- 
ing hard things about these uninvited guests ! 

“ It was too bad to disturb them,” said Rose, 
who always meant to be polite to animals and 
birds. “ But I did so want to see what was on 
these rocks. Come, Sue; let us climb down 
on that other side.” 

This was the side farthest away from the 
bathing beach, looking straight out to sea. 
They scrambled down towards the water, and 
finally they came to a great hole like a well, 
that seemed to go down forever. 

“ Oh, look!” cried Rose. “I do believe 
there might be a treasure hidden in the bot- 
tom of this hole. Does n’t it look mysterious, 
Sue?” 

“ Oh, yes ! ” said Sue. She did not know 
what “ mysterious ” meant, but she thought 
it had something to do with treasures. 


102 


FRIENDS AND COUSINS 


“ Look, there are cracks in the side, like 
steps,” said Rose. “ Let’s go down.” 

“ Oh, do you dare ? ” cried Sue. “ There 
might be something awful at the bottom.” 

“Pooh ! ” said Rose. “ I am not afraid. I am 
going down.” And she began to descend, fit- 
ting her bare toes into the cracks of the rocks. 
Sue was afraid, but she followed, for she did 
not dare be left behind. 

They went down for what seemed a long 
way, when suddenly there was a funny noise 
below them. “ Chug ! ” went something; and 
it sounded like a growl. Sue gave a loud 
scream. 

“ Oh ! ” she cried. “ There is something 
down there ! ” And she began to scramble up. 
Now Rose did not mind the “ chug ” so much 
as she did the scream. Rose hated screams. 
When Sue cried “ oh ! ” so suddenly, it startled 
Rose. She jumped ; her foot slipped out of its 
crack, and she fell. 

Down she tumbled, bumping herself on the 
rocks as she went. She came flat on the bot- 


GULL ROCK 


103 

tom of the hole with her foot doubled under 
her, and she gave a cry of pain. 

“ Oh ! what is it ? ” called Sue, in a shaking 
voice from above. “ Is the creature eating you 
up ? 

“Oh, no!” moaned Rose. “It is my foot, 
my foot ! It hurts me. I can’t stand up on it. 
Oh ! oh ! ” Rose was a brave little girl and 
she never cried unless she was badly hurt. But 
now the pain was terrible. 

“ Oh, if there is n’t any awful creature there, 
I will come down and help you,” said Sue. 
Presently she, too, came slipping into the bot- 
tom of the hole. But she fell without hurt- 
ing herself. There was plenty of room for her 
beside Rose. She found that they were in a 
little cave. But it was not a nice one like the 
pirate cave. It was damp and wet and slimy, 
very cold, with the disagreeable smell of decay- 
ing seaweed. 

Sue looked around fearfully and shivered. 
“ It is a horrid place,” she said. “ I am afraid 
to stay here. Let ’s go out quickly.” 


104 


FRIENDS AND COUSINS 


She helped Rose to her feet ; but when she 
tried to step poor Rose screamed with pain and 
fell back in a heap. 

“ I can’t walk,” she wailed. “ My foot is 
broken, I think. See, it is all swelled up ! ” 

Sure enough. The poor foot was turning 
the most dreadful color, a mixed purple and 
green, and it was twice as big as it ought to be. 
Rose had twisted her ankle badly. 

“ Oh, what shall we do ?” said Sue. “ How 
will you ever get out ? ” 

Just then “chug ! ” came that same queer 
sound. This time both Rose and Sue screamed 
and looked with wide eyes down into the far- 
ther corner of the cave, which was narrow 
and dark. They expected to see some creature 
come creeping out ; but nothing appeared. 

“ What do you suppose it is ? ” whispered 
Sue. 

“ I don’t know,” said Rose. “ But it is dread- 
ful. I want to go home.” 

“ What shall we do ? ” wailed Susan, begin- 
ning to cry. 


GULL ROCK 


105 

“ Don’t do that ! ” said Rose. “ It will not 
do any good, you know. Oh, of course, you 
will have to go home and get somebody to 
come and help me.” She shuddered to think 
of being left alone. “ Go quickly, Sue. And 
oh, do come back as soon as you can ! ” 

“ I will,” said Sue'; and she began to climb 
out of the hole. Rose’s heart sank as she heard 
the sound of Sue’s feet growing fainter and 
fainter, and she almost called her back ; but 
she bit her lips and tried to be brave. When 
Sue called down “ Good-by ! ” she felt her 
heart grow very cold indeed. It sounded so 
far away. Every one was so far away, and she 
was alone in that dreadful place with no one 
to help ! 

Just then chug! came that sound again. 
What could it be ? There surely was some- 
thing in the cave beside herself. Rose stared 
fearfully into the dark corner, but still she 
saw nothing. She waited nervously for the 
noise to come again. There it was, louder than 
ever, — chug ! And this time a little splash of 


106 FRIENDS AND COUSINS 

water spurted out of the darkness. Was some 
animal splashing there ? — Why, no ! Of 
course, it was a little wave coming in from 
the sea. There must be a crack in the bottom 
of the cave. Well, that was not so bad. Rose 
almost laughed to think how frightened she 
had been. But her foot gave a twinge of pain 
and she cried “ Ow ! ” instead. 

Rose wondered how long she would have 
to stay there. It would take some time, she 
knew, for Susan to run home and bring her 
father back. But already it seemed as if she 
had waited for hours. 

Chug ! came the noise again, very fiercely. 
This time a spout of water spattered across 
the cave into Rose’s lap. She did not like 
this, and painfully drew herself as close as she 
could against the wall of the cave, so that 
the next wave should not reach her. But it 
did reach her. In a few minutes there came 
another chug ! very loud indeed, and with it 
there was a bang which seemed to shake the 
rock itself. In a second a jet of water burst out 


GULL ROCK 


io 7 


of the darkness, spattering Rose from head to 
foot. She screamed, for now she knew what 
it meant. The tide was rising, and the waves 
were rushing into the crack at the bottom of 
the cave. By and by it would be full of water, 
and then what would become of her ? 

There came another chug ! and a bang on 
the wall outside, and she heard a big wave 
burst over the rock. A second later the spout 
of water leaped at her, bigger than ever, and at 
the same time a little stream began to trickle 
down into the hole from above. The waves 
were dashing across Gull Rock, and soon the 
cave would be flooded ! 

Poor Rose was now thoroughly frightened. 
Once more she tried to rise and pull herself 
up the well. But it was of no use. She could 
not stand on her foot, and she sank back with 
a moan. 

Another wave dashed against the rock, and 
when it trickled away it left Rose drenched 
and gasping for breath. What should she do ? 
She knew that if something did not happen 


108 FRIENDS AND COUSINS 

to help her in a few minutes, she should be 
drowned. Oh, why did not Sue hurry ? Why 
did not Papa come ? 

“ Papa ! Papa ! ” she cried. “ Oh, help, 
help ! — I must scream as loud as I can,” she 
thought. “ Sue does not know. She will not 
think there is any danger yet. Perhaps if they 
hear me they will hurry. — Oh, help ! help ! ” 
she cried, at the top of her lungs. 

And then something happened ! 


CHAPTER XII 


THE RESCUE 

T HAT same morning Mr. Smith, the 
hotel man, drove up to Sweetbrier Cot- 
tage. He found Mr. Thornton sitting on the 
front steps sharpening his knife. 

“ Good-morning, Sir,” said Mr. Smith. “ Do 
you happen to know a boy named Tom?” 

“ Tom Prout ? Yes, I do,” said Mr. Thorn- 
ton. 

“ Well, I want to see him,” said Mr. Smith. 
“ I have a five-dollar bill that belongs to 
him.” 

“ A five-dollar bill ! ” exclaimed Mr. Thorn- 
ton in surprise. “ What do you mean ? ” Then 
Mr. Smith told him the story of the mosquito 
and the box of candy. 

"What do you think of that?” said Mr. 
Smith, when he had finished. 


no 


FRIENDS AND COUSINS 


“ I think that Tom was a brave boy to 
confess before all those people,” answered Mr. 
Thornton. “ He did wrong, of course, but 
he made up for it as well as he could. Tom 
means to be a good boy, Mr. Smith.” 

“ I am sure of it,” agreed Mr. Smith 
warmly, “ and I want to give him a chance 
to make up for that candy without paying me 
a cent. I guess he will want all his money 
by and by for school or for something else. 
I should be glad to help him earn something 
at the hotel.” 

“Tom would like that, I know,” said Mr. 
Thornton, much pleased. “ He is very handy 
with boats. I trust my children out with him 
every day.” 

“ Is that so ?” cried Mr. Smith. “ The very 
thing ! I ’ll get him to row the ladies back 
and forth from the yacht. I ’d like to see 
Tom.” 

“ I think we shall find him playing with 
the other children,” said Mr. Thornton. 
“Will you come with me?” (You see, Mr. 


THE RESCUE 


hi 


Thornton did not know that Tom was an 
outlaw.) 

The two men went along the cliff to Beech 
House. It was empty except for the dolls and 
the Teddy Bear which Rose and Susan had 
left there when they went to look for the 
treasure. Then they went on until they came 
to the pirate cave. But Kenneth and Charlie 
were playing there alone. 

“Where is Tom?” asked Mr. Thornton. 
“ This gentleman wants to see him.” 

“ I don’t know,” said Kenneth. 

“ He does n’t play with us any more,” 
added Charlie. 

“ Why not ? ” asked Mr. Thornton. But the 
boys looked at each other and were silent. 
They were not going to tell tales. 

“We know all about the unlucky mos- 
quito,” said Mr. Thornton. “ Tom was sorry, 
and told Mr. Smith the whole story himself. 
He gave his five dollars to pay for the candy.” 

“Did he do that?” said Charlie, his face 
brightening. 


1 1 2 


FRIENDS AND COUSINS 


“Hurrah for Tom!” cried Kenneth. “I 
knew he was all right. — Hello ! there he goes 
now in his dory. Tom ! oh, Tom ! ” 

Kenneth waved his hat and shouted, but 
Tom did not seem to hear. He was at some 
distance out in the bay, rowing towards the 
bathing beach. They all shouted and waved, 
and finally Tom seemed to hear, for he looked 
around ; but he did not show any intention of 
rowing towards the cave. Perhaps he still felt 
like an outlaw. 

“He rows well,” said Mr. Smith, as Tom 
disappeared around the Point. 

“He knows more about boats than a good 
many men ever learn,” said Mr. Thornton. 
“ I wonder where he is going.” 

“We don’t seem likely to catch him this 
morning,” said Mr. Smith ; “ but if you see 
him, I wish you would ask him to come over 
and talk with me to-morrow. Hello ! what ’s 
this?” 

Down the cliff scrambled Susan, panting 
and disheveled. As she ran she shouted some- 


THE RESCUE 


^3 

thing which they could not understand. But 
when she came nearer they made out the 
word “ Rose ! Rose ! ” 

In an instant Mr. Thornton jumped to his 
feet and ran to meet her. “ What is the mat- 
ter ? ” he cried, turning pale. “ What has hap- 
pened to Rose?” 

Presently Sue recovered enough breath to 
speak brokenly. “She — she fell!” gasped 
Sue. “She broke her foot, I guess. She — 
can't walk. We — were looking — for the 
treasure — in the cave — out on the rocks — 
beyond the bathing beach.” 

“ My poor little Rose ! ” gasped Mr. Thorn- 
ton; and he started on the run, followed by 
the others. They all ran as fast as they could, 
but it was a long way. Poor Sue had found 
it so when she stumbled along going in the 
other direction. Now she toiled back again 
far behind the others, — behind even Mr. 
Smith, who was short and fat and grew very 
red as he ran. He had to stop often and mop 
his forehead with his handkerchief ; but Mr. 


FRIENDS AND COUSINS 


1 14 

Thornton never stopped until he came to the 
bathing beach. Kenneth and Charlie were 
close behind him. They heard him give a 
loud cry when he looked across the beach 
to Gull Rock, where Sue had said Rose was. 
In a minute they saw the reason. 

Gull Rock was now an island ! 

A wide bay of water stretched between the 
rock and the shore, with only a few stones 
poking up here and there on what had been 
the pathway by which Rose and Sue had 
crossed. It was nearly high tide. As they 
looked, a great wave rolled in and covered 
Gull Rock with spray. 

“ Look at that ! ” cried Mr. Thornton. “ My 
little Rose is out there! Oh, I must go to 
her ! ” And he dashed into the water and be- 
gan to wade along the rocks of the hidden 
pathway. But the stones were slippery and he 
kept stumbling. 

“You can’t do it!” yelled Mr. Smith. 
“ We must get a boat.” 

“There is no boat within half a mile,” 


THE RESCUE 


ii5 

cried Mr. Thornton, in despair. “ I must try 
to reach her in this way.” Just then another 
great wave came rolling in. It broke against 
Mr. Thornton’s knees. He lost his footing 
and tottered. The pool into which he fell was 
over his head, and he would have drowned if 
he had not known how to swim. The water 
was growing deeper all the time. “ I must 
swim over,” thought Mr. Thornton. “ But 
even if I get there safely I don’t see how I can 
climb up onto those steep rocks. However, I 
must try.” 

Just as he was about to strike out into deep 
water, there came a shout from Mr. Smith and 
the boys on the shore. “Tom! Tom ! ” they 
cried. “ Hurrah for Tom ! ” 

“ Papa ! Papa ! come ashore ! ” cried Ken- 
neth. “Tom has Rose in his boat!” 

Sure enough! Tom’s dory was just round- 
ing Gull Rock, coming fast towards shore, and 
in the stern sat Rose, very pale but safe. 

You see, Tom was just passing Gull Rock 
in his dory when Rose gave that last cry for 


FRIENDS AND COUSINS 


1 16 

help. He had heard it, but at first he thought 
her little shrill voice was only a sea-gull 
screaming on the rock. But when he heard it 
a second time cry, — “ Help ! oh, help!” he 
pricked up his ears. No sea-gull ever spoke 
words so plainly as that. Tom shouted, “ Hullo 
there ! ” in answer, and in a moment he heard 
a voice cry, “Tom ! Tom ! come quickly ! ” 
“That is Rose’s voice ! ” thought Tom, sur- 
prised almost out of his wits. He rowed as 
close to the rock as he dared, on account of 
the surf. “ Is that you. Rose ? ” he shouted. 
“ Where are you ? ” 

“I ’m down in a dreadful cave, Tom,” said 
Rose very faintly. “ My foot is broken, and 
the water is coming in. Oh, come quickly, 
Tom, or I shall be drowned ! ” 

“I guess that’s so,” thought Tom, with a 
sudden idea, as a great wave broke over Gull 
Rock. “ She is down in the Punch Bowl! It’s 
almost high tide. Oh, I must be quick or 
we’ll both be drowned.” 

Tom had no thought of being afraid. Rose 


THE RESCUE 


I1 7 

must be saved if he could do it. Now he had 
a chance to prove what a good boatman he 
was. He rowed as fast as possible around Gull 
Rock to a place where he thought he could 
land. It was on the sheltered side of the rock, 
where the waves did not break quite so heav- 
ily ; but it was difficult enough. He drew up 
his boat and fastened it securely. Then he 
hurried to the Punch Bowl, which was the 
fisherman's name for that dangerous cave. 

Tom knew it well. When he came to the 
hole he shouted down anxiously. Rose an- 
swered, so he knew that she was still safe. 
Down he climbed, nimbly as a monkey. At 
the bottom he found the poor little girl in a 
pool of water. 

“ Oh, Tom ! ” she cried. “ I am so glad ! 
Do you think you can get me out?” 

“'Course I'll get you out!” said Tom, 
feeling very big. Just then a great wave came 
sweeping in and nearly drowned them both. 
“ We must hurry,” sputtered Tom ; “ there's 
no time to spare. Come, Rose, you must try 


n8 FRIENDS AND COUSINS 

as hard as you can.” Rose tried as hard as she 
could. Tom lifted and pulled and pushed, and 
somehow or other he managed to help her 
out of that dreadful hole. Then he half car- 
ried, half dragged her over the rocks to his 
dory. Just as they were about to push off there 
came the biggest wave of all. It broke com- 
pletely over the rock, filled the boat half full 
of water, and knocked both the children off 
their feet. But they clung together and were 
not swept into the sea. 

“If we had been in the cave when that 
wave broke,” said Tom solemnly, “ we should 
both have been drowned. Let ’s get away be- 
fore another of those big fellows comes.” 

He emptied the water out of the boat, 
lifted Rose in, and pushed off with all his 
might. The next big wave leaped after them, 
burying Gull Rock under a heap of foam. But 
the children had escaped. The boat was mov- 
ing through quieter waters towards the bathing 
beach. 

They heard a shout from the shore, and 


THE RESCUE 


119 

looking up saw the crowd of anxious watchers. 
There were Kenneth and Charlie dancing up 
and down and shouting, “ Hurrah ! ” There 
was Mr. Smith, first fluttering his handker- 
chief, then using it to wipe his eyes. There 
was Mr. Thornton up to his waist in the water, 
waving his arms and calling, — 

“ Rose ! Rose ! Are you safe ? ” . 

“ Yes, I ’m safe. Papa! ” cried Rose. “Tom 
has saved me.” 

In a few minutes Rose was in her father’s 
arms, and he was hugging and kissing her, 
calling her by all her pet baby names. Mr. 
Smith was shaking hands with Tom, who 
looked dazed. 

“ I ’m proud to know you, Tom,” he said. 
“You are a regular sea-dog, my boy. W e must 
have you over to the hotel to help us with the 
boats there.” 

“Tom, my lad,” said Mr. Thornton, as he 
started to carry Rose up to the cottage, where 
her sprained ankle could be cared for, “ I ’ll 
never forget this. Boys,” he added, turning to 

> 


120 


FRIENDS AND COUSINS 


Charlie and Kenneth, who stood eagerly look- 
ing on, “ if you want to see what a real hero 
looks like, there he is. You had better write 
it down in your pirate log-book that one of 
your band saved a little girl’s life. That is 
something for you to boast of, indeed.” 

“I must go home and get dry,” muttered 
Tom, turning away much embarrassed. After 
all, he was an outlaw, and he knew that Mr. 
Smith understood why, though Mr. Thornton 
might not. Tom did not belong to the pirate 
band any more. But when he turned shame- 
facedly away, Kenneth and Charlie came run- 
ning up, and each seized him by the hand. 

“ Tom, old fellow, we are proud of you !” 
said Kenneth heartily. 

“Tom,” said Charlie, taking something out 
of his pocket, “ here is my pirate knife. You 
have got to be captain now. You are the best 
of us all, as Uncle Jack says.” 

“Hurrah!” shouted Kenneth, dancing up 
and down. “We have a real live hero for our 
captain, and we will do great things ! ” 


THE RESCUE 


1 2 1 


“ Oh, pshaw ! ” said Tom, turning red but 
looking pleased. He saw that they no longer 
thought him an outlaw. “ I don’t want to be 
captain,” he protested. 

“ You must, you must ! ” cried Charlie and 
Kenneth. “ Must n’t he, Mr. Smith ? ” 

“ Sure,” said Mr. Smith, “ I think he will 
make a fine captain. But I say, Captain, I hope 
you will find time to do a little un-piratical 
work for me, as a plain sailor. I want you to 
help with the boats at the hotel. Perhaps it 
is n’t as exciting as pirating or catching mos- 
quitoes,” he added, with a twinkle, “ but I 
think you will find that it pays better.” 

“ Oh, I want to earn some money,” said 
Tom. “ Some day I want to go to school in 
the city.” 

“ But if you go to Mr. Smith’s you won’t 
have time to play with us,” said Charlie; and 
Kenneth added, “Then you won’t be our pi- 
rate captain, Tom ? ” 

“Oh, yes he will,” said Mr. Smith. “I ’ll 
only keep him a few hours every day, when 


122 


FRIENDS AND COUSINS 


the ladies want to go sailing. Tom, will you 
be my sailor man?” 

“ Thank you, everybody,” said Tom, grin- 
ning. “ I will be both, if you want me to. I ’ll 
be a pirate captain and an honest sailor.” 

“ Here’s a little advance wages to begin 
with,” said Mr. Smith, handing Tom the fa- 
mous five-dollar bill. Tom flushed. 

“ Thank you, sir,” he said. “ But would you 
mind waiting until I have earned it? I want 
to start square this time.” 

“ Good for you, Tom ! ” said Mr. Smith 
approvingly. “ I see that we shall be great 
friends.” 

And Mr. Smith proved to be a true prophet. 



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